Chester Edwin Zaremba Sr.

Chester Edwin Zaremba Sr. (Chet) of Traverse City, Michigan & Fort Myers, Florida passed away peacefully while surrounded with family on Thursday, February 21, 2013. Chet was born to Stanley & Josephine Zaremba in Toledo, Ohio on May 4, 1916. After graduating from high school in Toledo, he was employed in several tool & die shops earning his Journeyman's License. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1937 he served aboard the U.S.S. Langley. On November 1, 1941 Chet married Lola M. Barth, who survives. Chet re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the beginning of World War II, attending officer's training school and served as an officer on a landing craft support gunboat in the Pacific until the end of the war. After the war, Chet worked in the tool & die room at Willy's Overland in Toledo, owned and operated his own company, Zaremba Tool & Die, and attended Toledo University, attaining his degree in manufacturing engineering.

Chet & Lola moved to Traverse City in 1955, putting down roots and raising their four children, all of whom survive. Kathleen (Kathy) Kroupa of Traverse City, Stanley (Stan) and his wife Carol of Traverse City, Chester Jr. (Chet) and his wife Jennifer of Petoskey, and Thomas (Tom) and his wife Kathleen (Kathie) of Madison, Wisconsin. He is also survived by his sister Val and his brother Edward of Toledo, 10 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. While Chet went around the world to where the work was, Traverse City was always home to him. He was a pioneer in Cad-Cam computer design. His love of the water and the sea led to his involvement with the United States Power Squadron where he remained active to his death. Chet taught navigation to hundreds as well as boating safety & boat inspections. He was one of many instrumentals who created the recently opened World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.

A memorial will be held in the Spring with a following interment in the Bohemian Cemetery on Neahtawanta Road