“Helping families in their time of need and making a difference in their lives.” That’s what Ed Suminski dreamed about as young man growing up in Milwaukee. Now he lives his dream and helps countless families and their friends when they have lost someone they loved. Maybe Ed has helped you at one time or another.
Ed’s openness and willingness to share are fundamental parts of who he is. You will know this the first time you meet him. He’s sincere, and eager to listen. You quickly see, too, that he shares his time and experience in way that is comfortable and useful.
As a young man, Ed had the best mentor in the world—his father. Growing up above the funeral home, along with six brothers and sisters, allowed Ed to see and to feel and to overhear all that goes on in a funeral home. The work, the talking, the tears, the laughter did not go unnoticed by young Ed.
Ed attended St. Hedwig, Pio Nono High School, and graduated from St. John’s Cathedral High School in downtown Milwaukee. He was big in sports, playing varsity football, basketball and baseball. Plus he served on the student council and was vice-president of his senior class. That’s along with doing some hunting now and then and helping his dad maintain his rental properties. Ed earned a degree in liberal arts from Concordia College and his degree in funeral service from Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Upon graduation from college Ed thought he would be entering the family business but quickly found out there was no room for another paid funeral director. So he went to work for A.C. Spark Plug in Oak Creek where they manufactured catalytic converters for General Motors Corp. During that time he helped his father and uncle in the family operation.
Ed and his brother, Ron, began managing the Funeral Home in 1984 upon their father's retirement. Ed and Ron both held their jobs in the factory splitting the coverage of the funeral home. Ron worked days, Ed worked nights and they covered the funeral home in their off hours. They began to work with the former owners of the current locations in the mid 80's providing support help for them with preparation of the deceased. In January 1990 Ed’s dream was fulfilled as he became solely dependant upon th Funeral Home for his livelyhood. It was in 1994 that they aquired the two locations they currently operate.
Ed and his wife, Marsha, have three children and a grandson and a granddaughter. Their oldest son, Aaron, and his wife, April, live in Milwaukee with their son, Tyler, and daughter, Morgan. Jaclyn and her husband, Daniel, also live in Milwaukee. Ed and Marsha’s youngest son, Timothy, is at home but will be heading off to college soon.
Ed enjoys spending spare time with his family and helping at church. He serves on the board and is in charge of the Hospitality Department at Parkway Apostolic Church in Oak Creek. He also has fun following Timothy’s basketball and baseball teams.
Ed believes when families call a funeral home they expect a genuine, knowledgeable, caring individual who will listen, provide information and direction to help in the caring for their needs at the time of their loss. He cares about what they are feeling and experiencing and wants them to know he is willing to share; to share his experiences with loss, the experiences of other people and their loss, along with his own time and other resources he knows are helpful.
Every life is special and every life has a story. Ed knows that sharing people’s stories and preserving memories are important to do at the end of life. Stories and memories are the fabric of life after all, the very thing that connects us one to another.
There is a common theme running through Ron Suminskis’ life, whether former days of playing basketball, his work in a labor union, or helping people through grief at the funeral home, Ron believes you should treat and interact with others just as you would want to be treated; in a manner nothing short of excellence.
Like his six siblings Ron was raised in the heart of the Brady St. neighborhood on the east side of Milwaukee. Another thing he shared with his family was witnessing the operation of the family funeral home, it was in this setting that he learned the value of hard work and helping those in need at a time of loss. Like many young people he didn’t understand the importance of a funeral and saying good bye to a loved one until he started adding years to his life.
Ron attended grade school at St. Hedwig now closed, but the church remains in it’s current version as a merged parish, Three Holy Women Parish, and he and his family are current members there. Ron loved team sports as a kid, especially basketball. He graduated from St. Francis Jordon boys school in 1968 and the school closed the following year; Ron insists there was no connection to the two events.
After high school Ron received an Associate of Arts Degree from Concordia College, while there he continued his love for sports by playing basketball for the college and participating in a variety of intramural sports. He went on and completed his degree for mortuary science from the Milwaukee Area Technical College in the 1970’s.
Ron worked in manufacturing for 20 years but over that time he and his brother Ed continued to help his father in the family funeral home and in 1984 they acquired the business although they continued their day jobs. In manufacturing Ron became very active in the union and eventually served as president of the local, adding to his resume of helping people. In 2008 Ron retired from his manufacturing job and now devotes his work time completely to the funeral home.
Ron and his wife Mary life in Shorewood, Wisconsin where they have raised their three daughters. He cherishes his time with family and friends and enjoys traveling, finding new restaurants and going to the theatre. When there is time he also likes to hike especially in our nations’ national parks. These activities give him balance in his life and keep him energized to serve the client families at Suminski Family funeral home.
In this day of high mobility, people moving from job to job and community to community, it is often heard that people long to return to their roots. Then there are people like Pat Suminski, the oldest of a large Polish family of seven, she was born and raised above the original Suminski Funeral Home on Brady St. Life has taken her full circle and she lives now at that same location caring for her mother.
The neighborhood on Brady St. was the center of her life growing up watching her grandfather John I. Suminski and her father (name) helping the families of the Brady St. neighborhood through their time of loss. It was only natural that eventually she would join her brothers Ed and Ron as partner in the funeral business, but that is getting ahead of the story.
As a young girl Pat attended Holy Angels Academy, now known as Divine Savior / Holy Angels. In her youth she was active in sports playing volleyball and softball, and helping around the family home with sewing and cooking.
Pat started working at the age of 16, probably a result of witnessing the family work ethic around the funeral home. Her early entry into the work force didn’t prevent her from going on with her education though, gathering a BA degree from the University of Wisconsin / Milwaukee, doing Computer coursework at Alverno College and MBA coursework at Cardinal Strich.
Pat’s work career includes being the manager for Pill & Puff, a health and beauty aids store. She then managed a student micro-computer lab and moved to Director of Administrative Computing, both at Alverno College, along with teaching office applications for Alverno’s Community Outreach Programs. Over the years she had supported her father and brothers at the funeral home doing paper work, cleaning and bookkeeping; she was in the background but still supporting families in a time of loss. In 1994 she became a partner with her brothers and in 1996 joined the funeral home work force full time.
Her desire to work in the funeral home stems from the desire to guide families through the initial steps of grief helping them to honor and say goodbye to their family members as only one from their neighborhood can do; making sure the life stories of her neighbors are preserved for the next generations.
Pats’ interest in the neighborhood doesn’t end with the funeral home; after all she lives here too. You can find her working in the garden or with the neighborhood association. After all these years she still is fascinated as she walks the shores of the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan and the streets of the Brady Street neighborhood she has always called home.
When Michelle is not at the funeral home helping families of the East side coping with the loss of a family member, you may find her at home reading or enjoying music, or just spending time with her husband and cat.
Michelle grew up in western Wisconsin on the shores of the Mississippi River alongside her two siblings. Maybe that is why Michelle landed in Milwaukee it has two things in common with her home town, it’s in Wisconsin and on the water.
Michelle studied at UW-Lacrosse and University of Wisconsin at Madison obtaining her undergraduate degree before attending Milwaukee Area Technical College for her mortuary science training. Michelle started working for Suminski Family Funeral Homes while still in mortuary school.
Michelle knows that families expect her to provide them with compassionate guidance when a death occurs, and to help share the memory of their loved one.