In memory of our amazing, brilliant and loving father.
George Mihaiu
November 3, 1918 – February 16, 2012
Eulogy by George M. Mihaiu on behalf of the Mihaiu family.
On behalf of my Dad, Mother, brother and sister, I want to express our most sincere and very grateful appreciation to all of you who have come here to honor him and celebrate his life of service to his city, his country and to all of us.
There are several friends in particular we want to say ‘Thank You!’ to for their kindness and selflessness in helping to give him the love and care that sustained him…and us…over these past few years after his stomach surgery rendered him homebound. And even more so for the help, patience, friendship and understanding they showed in helping my mother with her needs and burdens over the past few years.
a) THANK YOU! – to our River Rouge Emergency Rescue teams and the River Rouge Police Department and City Officials for their always immediate response and ongoing help and concern for him. You treated him as a part of the River Rouge family…and that will always be gratefully and warmly remembered. He loved River Rouge.
b) THANK YOU! – to Kit McConnell, for the special home care and nursing help she’s given us during the past few months. Kit, you’ve been wonderful.
c) THANK YOU! – to Michelle Morency Maloche, for your help, time, patience and caring attention over the past year in helping my Mother care for Dad.
d) THANK YOU! – Pastor Lawrence Rogeirt and wife Janet, our next door neighbors, for their friendship and readiness to help out in so many ways.
d) THANK YOU! – to my cousin Trisha Mihaiu, who lived next door with her Mom, Jeannie Mihaiu, and was always there to help her Uncle George and Aunt Margaret in whatever ways needed…and always without them ever even having to ask;
e) And a SPECIAL THANK YOU! – to our wonderful neighbors, Janet and George Paskoulis and their family, for their long friendship, love and loyalty to Dad and Mom. Even while facing their own personal and family challenges, they were always there for Dad and Mom on a moment’s notice to help however needed. You’ll always be in our hearts and prayers for all you’ve shared with us.
Finally…to my best friend since we were 5 years old, Tom Biggs, who’s always been there for me and for my parents in ways I can’t even thank him enough for in a lifetime. Tom, you ARE the best of everything a friend…and a man…could ever be.
For my part, I’d just like to share a couple of my personal stories and memories from Dad’s life with you. He was my hero when I was very young…and as I grew older and was able to better appreciate his personal, professional and family achievements, sacrifices and contributions, he became even more of a hero to me.
As the first-born and oldest son in our family, Dad had pretty high expectations for me that I tried my best to live up to throughout the years. But those expectations weren’t the overzealous type we sometimes read about in parents that push their children too far or too hard, however. His expectations were simply born of his own background and his own personal achievements:
– He graduated High School as Valedictorian of his class;
– He was an All-American diver in High School;
– He graduated U of Detroit undergrad as Valedictorian.
– And he graduated U of D Law School as Salutorian. With two Law degrees, to practice law and to teach law.
He wanted me to follow in his footsteps, of course, but I chose to take a different path…and there were a few times I didn’t quite measure up to those standards in the ways he may have hoped. But I came to appreciate him all the more for setting the bar so high for me and never letting me just settle for doing the things that came easily. And he finally came to accept that I had to go in my own direction and supported me in those pursuits just as proudly as he always had when I was younger. In teaching me to try to always reach higher and do better, he helped me learn and understand that I really could achieve almost anything I wanted to set my mind to if I worked hard enough at it.
I recently came across a saying that really moved me when I read it and thought about it…and it pretty much sums up what my Dad was all about and what he was trying to teach me about the value of sacrifice, education and preparation in meeting the challenges of life. I’ll share it with you:
‘Today I do what no one else WILL do…so that tomorrow I’ll be able to do what no one else CAN do.’
He expected my best at all times and one of the things he and I were both very proud of and that has always meant something special to both of us was an award we shared from our respective years in the halls of River Rouge High School.
In 1937, George Mihaiu, my Dad, was awarded the Harvey M. Rosa award at River Rouge High School as ‘Best All-Around Scholar-Athlete’ in his class and his name was inscribed on the award plaque.
Thirty-two years later, when I graduated from River Rouge High School in 1969, George Mihaiu’s name was again inscribed on that same Harvey M. Rosa Award. I hadn’t even known that he’d won it 32 years prior…and when I saw his name there inscribed on the plaque, it was very special.
Also inscribed on that award was a saying that’s been special to me ever since. You’ve probably heard it at some point…it’s known as ‘The Serenity Prayer’:
“God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change…the Courage to change the things I can…and the Wisdom to know the difference between them.”
In looking at Dad’s life, I think he lived up to and got everything about those ideals just right. And that’s why we decided to put that same inscription on his memory card here today.
Dad was a ‘giver’…one of those people who loved to give of himself and would help his friends and community whenever and wherever he could.
– He and his friends were a generation that grew up during the Great Depression and developed a work ethic and appreciation for the value of work and for the dollar that helped America recover and become the preeminent World power in every way during their lifetime.
– They went to war and prevailed in World War II against an evil that threatened the freedom of their families, their country and the entire world.
– And they pursued and achieved economic opportunity and the political ideal of democracy after the War and continued fighting for freedom throughout the Cold War and changed the face and the ways of the world for the better.
They were ‘The Greatest Generation’. And my Dad, George Mihaiu, was proudly one of those Americans who loved his family, his community and his country and showed it through his personal and professional service to all of us over his lifetime.
He finally retired from his law practice and judgeship in 1985, but continued to serve his community as a visiting Judge throughout the Wayne County area for a number years thereafter.
When he first started working as a visiting Judge, I recall him commenting on how uncanny it was that whenever a tough or unpopular case would come up on a court docket somewhere, the usual judge would just happen to be on vacation and they’d call him to preside over the case! He finally got wise to that a few years into it, stepped down from the bench for good, and truly retired to spend more time with his wife and family.
Shortly after he retired, though, he performed one marriage ceremony, in particular, that was of great personal significance…to me, anyway. As I entered into my 30s, he used to ask me if I was ever going to settle down and get married…and he told me that if I ever did, he wouldn’t believe it unless he performed the ceremony himself! So on Dec. 31st, 1988, he married Ann and I(me) at the Romanian Church…and immediately after the ceremony, he couldn’t resist pulling me aside and telling me: ‘If I hadn’t performed the ceremony myself, I wouldn’t have believed it! Congratulations! Now take good care of her.”
Approximately four and 1/2 years ago, as many of you know, he suffered a major rupture to his stomach & intestinal area that required emergency surgery to save his life. His recovery was uncertain and difficult for months thereafter, but he fought fiercely to live and did eventually recover with the unbelievable love, care and devotion from his wife, Margaret, my Mom.
My Mom was determined to give him the best of care during his recovery in his own home…a place that he loved, that was a part of who he was and was where he felt most comfortable. She bathed him by hand, fed him, cleaned him and made sure he took his meds and cared for him with all of her love, devotion and attention. While he eventually recovered with her loving and attentive care at home, he was slowed considerably by the surgery and would need a wheelchair and a walker to be able to move about the house since that surgery.
He would love to sit for hours on end on the back porch watching the kids play softball, baseball and football in Great Lakes Field, the athletic field in River Rouge that was right behind our home and backyard on Walnut Street. And he’d sit at the front window and watch the squirrels play and watch neighborhood life go on…and go by…around him. And he loved to watch the Tigers and Lions (well, maybe not the Lions so much some years! 🙂) and, especially, Michigan State football and basketball games.
But even his last health challenge couldn’t affect his wonderful sense of humor…nor did he let his own physical and health challenges become a burden to anyone else. He always had a great big smile for everyone that came to visit with him and took great pleasure in the simplest of things around him…like feeding the squirrels.
And whenever I was there visiting, I’d see him wake up in the mornings in his bed with a great big smile and say ‘Good Morning! I love you!’ to my Mom when she came in to get him out of bed, dress him and get him ready for the day.
He was born in River Rouge, loved River Rouge and spent his final days in River Rouge, just as he always wanted. And we all are blessed to have had him with us to lead the way for these many years.
And there’s one more person that I want to thank and honor for him today…his wife and my mother, Margaret. Mom, you took such great care of him…you were amazing! Thank you.
Dad…we love you and you’ll ALWAYS be with us. Go with God now and rest in peace.