Angeline A. Tazzia

Angeline “Angie” Antoinette Tazzia (nee Migliazzo)

Our mother passed away January 27th. She would have turned 96 in March. Her passing was peaceful, and she was surrounded by family. She was married to Edward Tazzia in June of 1947 and he passed in September, 2000. Her children were Ed - June, 1951 (wife Julie), Patricia Dunning - July, 1952 (husband Tim), Janette - July, 1956 (partner Jaye VanLenten) and George - May, 1961, deceased August, 1990. Her parents were Pasquale and Mary Migliazzo and her sisters Francis, Mary and Lilly all passed before her.  Mom was a loving grandmother and great-grandmother. Her grandchildren are Amy Mendenhall (nee Dunning) - husband David, children Lincoln, Adelaide, and Victor; Andrea Devenney (nee Dunning) – husband Andrew, children Evan and Mairi; Angela Penrose (nee Dunning) – husband Kurt, children Duncan and Henry; Gennie Stone and Samantha Tazzia.  Angie was born March 4, 1925 in Detroit and lived on Mapleridge on the east side of the city. She attended Denby high school and was very proud of the fact that she jumped a grade, graduating in June, 1942 at the age of seventeen. She sold War Bonds at Hudson’s Department Store in downtown Detroit before joining General Motors in September of 1942. She used to tell us about carpooling from Detroit up to Pontiac where she worked for many years. She retired from GM in February 1951 when she was five months pregnant with her first child.  She met her husband Edward after the WWII and they married on June 28, 1947. He was a fighter pilot during the war and in the Air Force Reserve after the war. Our sister Janette’s full name is Janette Elizabeth Tazzia – her initials JET in honor of Dad’s love of flying.  Dad worked for Fisher Body for many years – left briefly and in 1964 was hired back by Chevrolet. It was during his company physical that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 40. They had been married only seventeen years. Mom watched the man she loved slowly disappear. When we asked her if she could have one important person for dinner who would it be. She said Edward.  Mom was a 1950’s mom. Active in the parish bazaars and the Altar Society at St. Basil’s in Eastpointe (East Detroit when we were growing up). They built our house on Petersburg in 1951 and moved in just weeks after Ed was born. Over time she and dad “lifted’ the attic roof with friends and relatives to create two more bedrooms and a bath, added a breezeway and a new garage. She stayed in that house until 2013. It was very hard for her to leave.  Dad traveled a great deal for work when we were kids, often driving to Ohio, New York and other plants, so mom had to carry an extra load. She was a great cook and was proficient with every cuisine. But she especially loved Italian. She and dad would go out every Saturday night for dinner and dancing. She loved lobster tail. And mom had a sweet tooth, loved key lime pie and enjoyed sugar melon. But if you really wanted to tempt her – Sander’s Cream Puff Hot Fudge sundae was her favorite.  We always took vacations as a family and in 1967 bought a pop-up trailer and traveled across the country. An entire month. Mom and Dad showed us Mt. Rushmore and Cody, Wyoming, down through the Grand Tetons and across the Great Salt Lake. We spent a week in San Francisco and another in Los Angeles and on the way back we stopped at the Grand Canyon. We were in a motel just outside of Las Vegas when we got the news that there were riots in Detroit.  After dad retired, and while he was still able, he and mom traveled. She loved to tell the stories about a trip to Europe. It was one of those group trips and she told us about everyone on the buses. She embraced everyone, especially the people traveling alone. That was just her way.  Mom was a diehard sports fan. Actually, even more than our father. One of Ed’s earliest memories was going to a Tigers game and mom caught a foul ball. Ed tried to throw it back to the field, but luckily he was only three and a good fan brought it back. Right up to the end she would watch the Tigers and Wings, occasionally the Lions. And she adopted Ed’s Michigan State Spartans and was pretty religious about watching all the football and basketball games.  Mom has aged rather gracefully really. She always enjoyed her friends – Myra Walman was a favorite. A friend of Janette’s, Myra would visit mom every Thursday, make her her very special omelets and just talk. When mom moved into her retirement community, Patty would visit regularly and make sure mom got out, visited friends and family. In 2019, we moved mom out to Grand Rapids to live with Janette and her partner Jaye. Once there, a regular flow of visitors would come by and mom thoroughly enjoyed that.  Mom loved playing Scrabble whether with others or on her computer. She’d play for hours on the computer and was very proud of her record against “that machine”. She loved puzzles and cheated at cards.  More often than not, if you asked her how she was doing, she’d say, “Not bad for an old broad.” That was mom.  Angie Tazzia said she wanted to be remembered as a loving daughter, a good friend, a good student, a good employee, a good wife and a kind and loving mother – who gave happy parties. Mission accomplished.  Due to COVID, there will be no visitation or service at this time. The family will arrange memorials in Grand Rapids and Troy at a later date. She will be buried with our father and brother.

In lieu of flowers Angie requested donations to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

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