John "Jack" Edward Palko

John (Jack) Edward Palko, 91, of Traverse City and Arizona passed away Thursday, June 29, 2023 at Munson Hospice House surrounded by his loving family. Jack was born on September 25, 1931 in Chicago, IL to the late John and Marie (Heekin) Palko. He married the love of his life, June Rose Weissenborn on June 13, 1953 in Naperville, IL. Jack worked for General Motors for over 30 years. He started out as a mechanic and worked his way up to a national position. He worked in the finance department, responsible for half of the United States territory. He loved his job, but his true love was his wife, June, and his six children. His family was everything to him. Jack loved to travel with his family and friends. His favorite trips were to Hawaii with his kids and grandchildren. He traveled around the world seeing some places twice. His favorite place was Rome. Most of the abroad trips with his dear friends, the Wittry’s. Jack would spend his time in Traverse City, MI at the lake house in the summer months. The entire family would come each summer for reunions. Jack had a great sense of humor. He had a gift for storytelling and making everyone laugh. His laugh and smile were contagious. One of his fondest memories from his grandkids was the “Annual Secret Meetings” to plan for fun, crazy events during the reunion. Jack loved airplanes and on his first date with his wife June, they went to the airport and watched planes take off and land. His favorite movies also involved airplanes, Top Gun, and the TV series Air Disasters. He was an avid lover of model airplanes and built and flew them. Another passion of Jack’s was boats. In his younger days, he owned a Chris Craft cabin cruiser. Later, he purchased an old wooden Chris Craft, which he spent his spare time restoring. During the summers, he would spend lots of time pulling his grandchildren around the lake tubing. Also, when he was younger, Jack developed a huge passion for Notre Dame. As a kid, he would pack his lunch, board a train, and attend Notre Dame football games. His loyalty to the college remained throughout his entire life. He never missed an opportunity to watch them play. During Christmas holidays, the grandchildren would gather around him, while he played the keyboard and sang songs. Talent shows were often performed. His love for children went beyond his family as well. It broke his heart to hear and see children who were sick. Because of this, he often donated to St Jude as the organization was dear to his heart. In his quiet time, he often sat on his porch swing at the lake just watching the boats going by. If anyone couldn’t find him, he was undoubtedly on the swing. Jack also loved to swim. He basically taught himself how to swim and was very proud when he could swim faster and longer. John is survived by his wife June of over 70 wonderful years, his children, Anne (Chuck) Cain, Kris Palko, Marie (Bill) Hull, Amy (Steve) McMeans, Nancy (Mark) Pfab, grandchildren, Mike, Niki, Jason, Tony, Rylee, Jacqueline, Alex, Kristen, Mallory, Sean, Austin, and Sydney, great-grandchildren, Alexxis, Kolton, Shylin, Ashley, Gianna, Emily, Anthony, Shelby, Braysen, Ryah, Adaline, Elouise, Tobias, Oliver, his sister Mary Ellen Evanger and many other loving family members and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother-in-law Buddy and his beloved son Tim Palko. A Funeral Mass will be held on at 11am Thursday, July 6, 2023 at St. Francis Catholic Church with a visitation held one hour prior. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be directed to St. Judes.

John "Jack" Edward Palko

August 25, 1931 - June 29, 2023