Michelle Lynn Woda

1969 - 2025

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade staff writer

Michelle Lynn Woda, an entrepreneur and community volunteer, who helped pave the way to fairness toward female workers, and a mother of three and grandmother of four, died Sept. 27 at Cleveland Clinic. She was 56.

She died of a pulmonary aneurysm following a bout with lung cancer, her daughter, Seneca Weirich, said.

"She was really tough," Ms. Weirich said. "She had me at 17. She raised three kids all by herself. And all she did was work to give us the best of everything."

Ms. Woda was a dispatcher and logistics specialist at several northwest Ohio trucking companies from the early 1990s until December, 2002. She successfully sued a major Toledo firm for alleged wage discrimination alongside co-plaintiff Lisa Zautner.

In their lawsuit against Heidtman Steel, where they both worked as dispatchers, the plaintiffs alleged they were paid less than male co-workers for identical work. The complaint, filed in December, 2002, in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, sought $250,000 and other damages for each of the women.

"It was about fairness; it really was. They wanted to just bring it to attention of powers that be," said Charles Sallah, a retired Toledo attorney who represented her in the case. "And they could have probably continued it, but they felt satisfied that they brought attention to what was going on."

The case was settled out of court a few years later.

"Her courage and determination paved the way for fairness and equity, not only for herself but for others who came after her," Ms. Weirich and her sister, Laken Arthur, wrote in the family obituary.

In 2007, Ms. Woda used the compensation to buy the former Bretz, one of Ohio's oldest gay nightclubs, at 2012 Adams St. She leased the building from Tom Sallah, her business partner and Charles Sallah's brother.

"She was firm, fair, and loving," Tom Sallah said. "She treated her employees probably better than I would have. She would always say, 'Tom, they deserve this, and they deserve that.' She was one of those, I wouldn't call her a justice seeker, she was more of a fairness seeker."

He remembered how Ms. Woda once found out that one of her employees, who had five grandchildren, was "going through tough times." She then bought them $500 worth of toys and clothes.

"She did it without any fanfare, that's Michelle," Tom Sallah said.

Ms. Woda was the same way in sickness, he said, remembering how she paid $30 for another patient who couldn't afford a co-pay while she was receiving chemotherapy treatment at the same facility.

She operated the nightclub until 2018, when she sold it to focus on fighting the disease and staying with her family. She became cancer-free by February, 2025.

Ms. Woda also volunteered for the Chapter V Club, an alcoholism treatment program, where she was a board member.

Born April 7, 1969, in Toledo, she attended Woodward High School and Central Catholic High School and later was a stay-at-home mother before going into the trucking business.

In the family obituary, her daughters wrote that she "embodied the spirit of a warrior poet - a soul who could weather life's storms with courage and still find words, laughter, and love to share with others" and that she "leaves behind a legacy not only of strength, but of wisdom, compassion, and beauty."

A devout Catholic proud of her Polish heritage, her interests included fine art, history, and "all things British," her daughters said.

In her free time, she enjoined collecting fine art and traveling.

Surviving are her daughters, Seneca Weirich and Laken Arthur; son, Joel Weirich; parents, Judy and Michael Burzynski; sister, Amy Woda-Carney; brothers, Steven Woda, Michael Burzynski, and Timothy Burzynski; and four grandchildren.

Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Monday at St. Adalbert Church, where the funeral Mass will immediately follow at 10 a.m.

Arrangements are by David R. Jasin-Hoening Funeral Home, Toledo.

The family suggests tributes to the Victory Center.