Edward Waniewski, 1916-2011: Son helped family run grocery store

8/22/2011

Edward Waniewski, the son of Polish immigrants who helped run his family's meat and grocery store on Lagrange Street until 1981, died Friday in Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center. He was 95.

Mr. Waniewski, the oldest of five children born to Frank and Mary Waniewski, began working at Waniewski Market as a teenager while attending Woodward High School, said his daughter, Teresa Waniewski.

"I think he was a sophomore or junior in high school. He had one more year to go but his father wanted him in the store and he did not graduate," she said.

The store, one of the first in the Polish neighborhood called Lagrinka, was purchased in 1918 by Frank Waniewski. The family lived in an apartment above and behind the store.

"My father was about 2 years old when they bought the store," Ms. Waniewski said.

Mr. Waniewski, who lived a few blocks from the now-shuttered grocery, was taken to the hospital for breathing problems Thursday and the family later learned he had suffered a mild heart attack, his daughter said.

Except for a stint in the U.S. Army in the early 1940s during World War II, Mr. Waniewski worked in the store. He and his late brother, Steve Waniewski, continued the business after their father died.

The store was sold in 1981 to Ed Hites.

Mr. Waniewski also worked for about 10 years at the Charcoal House restaurant on Talmadge Road, where he prepared salads and worked in the kitchen.

Mr. Waniewski married the former Sophie Zawacki on May 30, 1949. Their daughter said they met at a wedding reception at the Polish Falcon Hall on Lagrange and were engaged five months later on Aug. 27, 1948.

Surviving are his wife, Sophie; daughters, Teresa Waniewski and Joann Binkley, and sisters, Rosemary Danielak and Gloria Brudzinski.

Services will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Urbanski Funeral Home, 5055 Secor Rd., followed by a mass at St. Adalbert Church.