Chester Joseph MATERNOWSKI

9 FEB 1925 - 17 MAY 2018

• BIRTH: 9 FEB 1925, South Bend, IN
• DEATH: 17 MAY 2018, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan

INDEX

[N4043] Dr Chester Joseph Maternowski

Birth 9 Feb 1925
South Bend, St. Joseph County, IN

Death 17 May 2018 (aged 93)
Grand Rapids Township, Kent County, MI

Burial Cremated
Memorial ID 200948479

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Chester Joseph Maternowski, left our world on his own terms on May 17, 2018 at 93 big years of life. Born in South Bend, Indiana on February 9, 1925, to Stella Kalamaja and Charles Maternowski, Chet pushed past his Polish parish boundaries (to which he was very attached) and led an extraordinary life. He served in the Navy in World War II, returned home to attend University of Notre Dame, went on to St. Louis University to study medicine and later to Michigan for study in Allergy and Immunology. The son of the butcher, famous for his kielbasa, married Mary Elaine Exilda Gallant and together they set out on the adventure of life and their path of justice. By day Chet cared for his patients but he always looked beyond the comfortable confines of East Grand Rapids to help others in need. In the 1960's he started Holidays for Humanity and led physicians - true doctors without borders - overseas bringing public health to the destitute of Guatemala and Mexico. By the middle of the same decade, with the Viet Nam War raging, Chet helped conscientious objectors. He started Capital Lunch, later renamed God's Kitchen, a respite for the hungry and homeless to have a meal, under a bridge in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. This became 'church' for his family.By the 1970's, he co-created Project Rehab, the first heroin addiction clinic in West Michigan. In the 1980's, he staunchly supported the preservation of the sand dunes along the fabulous shores of Lake Michigan. Life for this man was an endless opportunity. Chet encouraged the educational and career aspirations of his seven children.He and Elaine generously contributed time and resources to many causes including the rehabilitation programs at Mary Free Bed and to the arts including offbeat film centers, string quartets that started small and made it big, the ballet company, and local sculptors (who put their pieces of art in our big yard). In his final decades he transformed that big yard into a natural prairie because he loved wild flowers so much, and the birds and butterflies that came along for the ride. And now, he will join them in that bit of prairie! Chet is predeceased by his beloved wife Elaine, son Peter, daughter Mary Elizabeth, brothers Charles and John and sisters Esther and Lucille. Chet is survived by his sister Marie Czarnecki and his five remaining children, Mary Anne (Thomas Romano), Joseph (Stephanie Warne), Thomas (Harinder Khalsa), Mary Catherine (Al Cameron) and Andrew (Monica Randles) as well as dear friend Sue Jabin.
Chet is also survived by 18 loving grandchildren, John, Matthew, Paul and Anna Romano; Max and Maria Maternowski; Otto and Alice Kirst; Raheel, Batul, Baqir and Siraj Hassan; Narsingh and Dev Saroop Khalsa; Malcolm and Caleb Cameron; and Nicholas and Isabel Maternowski.Chet will be missed by all and his children will always remember his mischievous request: "Who wants to go on a mystery trip?" May that trip now be yours: long, meaningful and fun just like your life Chester Joseph. There will be no funeral services but rather a celebration of life, details to follow. Memorials may be sent in Chet's name to God's Kitchen, Catholic Charities West Michigan, 40 Jefferson Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 or Mary Free Bed Hospital Guild, 235 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503.

Published in Grand Rapids Press on May 27, 2018