“Hey Pop…can you help me?”

Leo Gorski on the left talks with his best friend John Glodich at Loui’s Pizza Hazel Park Michigan

“Hey Pop…can you help me”

He worked long hours for a great company. No formal education but he worked his way up the Michigan Bell ranks with discipline and consistency. With no father figure to draw from, much of his steadfast character stemmed from his mother. A tiny woman that forced her alcoholic husband out of the house when dad was incredibly young. A tiny woman that raised her three children alone at a time in America when that was unheard of. My dad was raised by a unique warrior.

Right on schedule, the clock radio flashed 5pm and dad pulled up the driveway in our Warren Michigan house. The red Oldsmobile station wagon split the houses that were lined up like soldiers in formation. He saw that I had the Dodge Dart already in the garage with the hood up. Wearing his black dress pants, light blue collared shirt, and thick black rimmed glasses he approached the detached building. “What’s going on Junior…what seems to be the problem,” he questioned with a sigh and a hint of fatigue.

“I’m not sure pop, when I hit the gas it kind of bogs down,” was my quick response. Then I threw out the question that was filled to the brim with selfishness. As a young man just 19 years old, I had no true understanding of his weekly grind and the exhaustion that it would create. “I was hoping to go see Penny tonight at Michigan State and I don’t think I should take the Dart in this condition,” my self-centered persona asked.

Dad did not answer right away and that was the norm. He seemed to run through a systematic process, which allowed him to scientifically analyze situations. His eyes would dart from point to point as the analysis continued in his brain. This would frustrate mom as she was a conversationalist and yearned for quick interactions. “Alright, let me get changed and I will come back out and take a look,” was his well thought out response.

He walked straight through the kitchen which had dinner sitting on the stove. Mom was reading the newspaper in her favorite spot. The red recliner that stood by the front door. “Can you make me a plate and put it in the fridge, I am going to help Ronny get the Dodge up and running,” dad firmly muttered. “What’s wrong with it now,” mom bounced back. “I don’t know,” dad responded with a stern voice.

Fast forward 2 hours later, and with no dinner in his stomach, dad had fixed the Dart and I was on my way to Michigan State. I was jamming to a Rick Springfield cassette in the aftermarket stereo and speakers. The stereo system was the one and only thing that was cool about the hard edged and boxy Blue Dodge Dart.

When dad was in his final stages of lung cancer in late 2016, I wrote him a couple cards. My goal was to share in print why I thought he was an amazing dad. I recounted this story and when he read it, I saw the tears forming in his eye. He tried to say thank you but the emotions got the best of him.

8 years have passed since we lost dad. Memories constantly pop up of his dedication and commitment to his family. At times I am in awe of what he was able to accomplish. John Michael Glodich ended his education after his sophomore year at Detroit Northeastern high school. With no fatherly income in the house, he needed to work to help support the family. The Hudson building in downtown Detroit is where he landed.

He would joke about his job. “I was in the music business,” he would claim as I love to ask him questions about his youth. The 25th floor is where all music albums were sold and dad would stock the shelves. Another great Michigan company, he worked there several years, but he had another itch to scratch.

A natural athlete that stood 6’2 with a waistline of just twenty-eight inches. His mother was deeply religious and connected him with a group with close ties to the catholic church and the Slovak community. Sokol Detroit is the oldest non-profit organization that is still in existence in the Detroit metro area.

The main focus of the group was physical fitness for the family and education of the history and culture of the Slovak people. Here is where dad became exposed to gymnastics. A huge trophy in the basement of our Warren house displayed his greatest accomplishment. “All around National Champion 1949,” was stamped on the plate.

The competition was a unique combination of some track and field events and some gymnastic events. The competition mimics todays decatholon. He defeated not only all other Sokol competitors from across America, but also his 25-year-old coach. “He was pissed,” dad would share with a smirk on his face.

The draft and the Army cut that career short, but allowed him to meet a man that would become one of his best friends.  Leo Gorski and John Glodich became best of friends because of their proximity in the alphabet. The friendship would take them threw a couple years in the army and then create a connection that would push the friendship to the ends of their wonderful lives. Leo married Rita Glodich and the Gorski/Glodich connection was cemented.

Some might feel truly blessed to have just one great role model in his life, but I was doubly blessed as Uncle Leo became my favorite Uncle. He also produced three sons that closely age the three boys of my family. Mark Gorski is a year older than me and my best friend. I would do anything for him.

There is a picture Mark hangs proudly in his beautiful basement in Oxford Michigan. Ron and John Glodich stand next to Leo and Mark Gorski, with arm in arm embraces. The smiles show the pride we have in each other. The smiles also clearly show the genetic link as each father/son smile match just like the houses in Warren where we grew up.

Father day 2025 is now upon us and I think its safe to say Mark cherishes his memories just as much as I do of our fathers. Two men that worked for Michigan Bell, two men that raised their families in Warren Michigan. Simple houses that barely reached 1000 square feet. Houses built with such a strong foundation that the floors refuse to squeak after standing some 70 years. “A strong foundation,” our fathers would have it no other way!!!