Read Edward "Ed or Eddie" Anthony Krajewski's Obituary & Leave Condolences

In memory of

Edward "Ed or Eddie" Anthony Krajewski

Waterford Township, MI, USA

December 11, 1944 - June 11, 2021

Dec 11, 1944 - Jun 11, 2021

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Edward Anthony Krajewski December 11, 1944 - June 11, 2021
Written and presented by wife Kathy Krajewski, Tiffany Krajewski and friends.

1. Song Intro: "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones
I want to thank everyone for coming to share a Celebration of Life for Ed. I am sure it seems strange to begin a Memorial with "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones…. However this was Ed’s favorite song. He and I went to see “The Big Chill” when it first came out in the ‘80’s and if you remember the funeral scene, where one of the friends played “You can’t always get what you want” by the Stones on the organ, Ed leaned over and said make sure you play “Start Me Up” at my funeral and we both laughed. We are not here to say good-by to Ed, but to celebrate his life in stories and song.
I will invite everyone to share a story about different segments of Ed’s life as we move along through the years.
How do I describe the most amazing man I have ever known? Edward Anthony Krajewski was born on December 11, 1944, and left this world and our life on June 11, 2021
So many interesting and funny things happened before I met him in 1980.

2. Parents
• Ed was born in Chicago to Teresa Rock and Anthony Krajewski. The two met at Chrysler where Ed’s father was an executive and his mother was a secretary. Ed’s father Tony served in the Second World War and we still have a trunk full of love letters he wrote to Ed’s mother.
• After losing her parents at a very young age, Ed’s mother, Teresa raised her brothers, Ed, Mario and Joe. Because of this she married later in life and was 36 when she had Ed right after Tony came home from the war. Age 36 was pretty old back in 1944 to have your first and only child, and Ed was received like the second coming of Christ. Therefore he was spoiled, and never lacked confidence and from day one in 1944 to the last day… he was always the center of attention.
• He was 12 when he lost his father and was devastated. He began acting out doing things like stealing cars and his uncles convinced his mother to send him to “Assumption” an “all-boy’s" boarding school in Canada. There are many funny stories he shared with me of escapes to cross the bridge to go home to hang out with “the guys”, and late night visits to the neighboring all-girl’s catholic boarding school.

3. The Old Neighborhood
• Ed had a group of “guys” he hung out with in the “old neighborhood” and he was known as "Kroch Krajewski" or "Dirty Eddie", I really do not want to know why…. But I can guess. As soon as his mother would leave for work, the ‘maniacs” as he called them would jump out of the bushes with beer to drink and play pool in his basement. I am sure his mother figured it out. He remained friends with most of these guys all of his life. Two of them stood up in our wedding, brothers, David and Vic Cunha
• Throughout the 1960’s according to his old friend Danny Zolick, "Ed was the guy"! "Everyone wanted a piece of him" Danny stated. .. "It was not a party until Ed got there". I have heard all about “garbage punch” and slow dancing at the frat house. Danny Zolick was going to mortuary school, and Ed lived with him above the funeral home. There are many stories about driving the hearse to A&W’s to order Papa Burgers for the deceased and inviting girls back to the funeral home. I am sorry Danny cannot be here to share some of their antics. It was Danny who he had the motorcycle accident with which is what started Ed’s many hip replacements. Danny was in a coma and the nurse, Jan who took care of him became Danny’s wife… and told Danny he could not hang out with Ed Krajewski anymore.
With this I would to invite some of his friends from the old neighborhood to share some memories.
4. College, Fraternity and Golf
Shortly after college Ed married a girl from the neighborhood named Chris Wanzell and they were married for 9 years. Please note, I met him "after" he was going through the divorce.
While attending Wayne State University, Ed joined a fraternity. I would like to invite some of his fraternity brothers to share stories starting with Rick Bartus.
5. Mad Men Days Bob Solano and Dan Yessian speak.
Ed began his career in advertising running the Projector at Y&R before becoming a copywriter. His career path led him to move to LA where he moved his way up the ladder and ran the Production Department and produced many award winning commercials for such notable accounts as Mazda, Winchell’s Donuts, and all the Smokey the Bear PSA’s
When his mother passed away in 1979, he wanted to “move back home” and Denise Prankster, a colleague from Y&R brought him back to Detroit to work at Campbell Ewald on the Chevrolet account in 1979. He was "loaned" to the Magnavox account where he produced several commercials in Toronto with Leonard Nemoy. This is when I really met him, in 1980 as he was working on my floor and I worked on Magnavox. He won a Cleo for the best car commercial for Chevy Shadows in 1982 and accepted it in New York the night before our Wedding. His career path led him to J. Walter Thompson before opening his own production house called Sundog with Larry Carrol and
then moving on to open Red Orange USA Production with Barry Meier. Right when the automotive crises hit, Ed sold out his shares to Barry and went to work for a competitor Millennium Films.
I would like to invite some of his fellow “Mad Men” in the advertising world to say a few words.
6. The Ed I knew Song - Play song "The Great Pretender" by the Platters:
You have all heard the funny stories, but what many of you do not know is the side of Ed that I know. Things like his favorite ride at Disney was “It’s a Small World after all”, he would cry when ET was sick…every time he watched it, and was the biggest baby when he got a cold. He loved animals, had a weak spot for old people and related well to children. He loved to putter around the house and the yard. I used to call him the light bulb ferry because as soon as a light went out… Bam he replaced it. These are the little things I notice as I go about my day alone.
When I met Ed I was a paid intern at Campbell Ewald. At first, I was probably one of the ONLY women at the agency who did not want to go out with him. He was going through a divorce after nine years of marriage and I was in a serious relationship, with someone else. I had a list of rules that included never dating anyone I worked with, never dating a married or divorced man… and only dating men around my age. I broke every rule with Ed. Thank God, Ed would not take no for an answer… and in hindsight, my lack of interest at the time was most likely the challenge he needed to keep his interest. You were not allowed to date other employees at Campbell-Ewald, and we were supposed to keep it a secret... but Ed was never good at keeping secrets, and my boss was one of his friends and fraternity brothers. I think it was obvious when we first danced at a Campbell Ewald Christmas party which is where it really all started.
(Play Can I have this Dance by Ann Murray in the background)
On June 12, 2012 - The entire advertising world and our old friends from both of our neighborhoods were at our wedding to help us celebrate. It was considered by all to be one of the most fun weddings of all time, mostly because our group of guests meshed well and everyone got into dancing all night long.
He supported me through the death of both of my parents. We held each other's hands through the death of his best friend Victor at age 45 and a few years later my good friends Paula and Kathy. We fought causes together, raised money for charities, and never missed a good party.
We shared the love of our daughter, our love for Airedales and our historical home for 39 years. Ed was a devoted father and there was a bond between him and Tiffany that I could never pierce … I always called it the "Krajewski Club". He would come home from his production trips and dance with Tiffany in the foyer and sing "Daddy's Home to Stay” and I was not allowed near the dance floor as this was their special time.

Ed gave me the confidence I never had growing up to pursue my love of writing and I started my business and writing my shows with his encouragement. He became a huge part of my most successful show "Titanic at the Grand" and became a family with my fellow actors, and Sam who did our lights and sound. It was like going to camp to the Grand Hotel every year when all of us got together. Ed actually loved playing the role of Officer Murdock and was a dance contestant in one of my disco fundraisers.
We laughed, we loved. We fought and made up. We had our share of good and bad times, sickness and health, and rich and poor we did it all. What do I say about a marriage after 39 years… except that in addition to my love for Ed and my daughter, she and I both flourished because no matter what, we knew he loved us?
Play or sing Celine Dion. Because you loved me

7. Ed the Father Introduce Tiffany
Play Free Falling their favorite song.

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