John Czyrka
John Czyrka passed away suddenly today (Sunday, December 2nd). You may have known him as Barbara Lyons’ husband, and the son-in-law of Dorothy Lyons. You may also know that Dorothy, who was a part of Clark Lake her whole life, departed this fall, in her 90th year.
Like many who become associated with the lake through family connections, John grew to be a confirmed lover of all things Clark Lake. He had a deep appreciation for sunsets. From the family cottage on Eagle Point Road, he was well positioned to see spectacular displays. He was an expert at regularly snapping creative photos as summer days drew to a close. To everyone’s delight, he then shared them on Facebook.
As a Clark Lake convert, he loved raft rides with Barbara. His daughter, Cristina, recalled their leisurely cruises. “My parents would chat, and I would drift off accompanied by the hum of the motor and waves lapping against the pontoons.”
John and his mother-in-law, Dorothy, had a special connection. John made sure her Christmas decorations were up in the winter, and manicured the shrubbery and flower beds in the summer.
Family photo taken at sunset in front of the family cottage
John was a graduate of Ferris State University, where Barbara also studied. But they missed each other by four years. The two would meet later. John was a member of Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity. At the time of passing, he was a corporate sales manager for Samsung.
John Czyrka and Barbara Lyons met through skiing—not on the water, but on the snow. Living in the Ann Arbor area, they both were members of a local ski club.
When their daughter, Cristina, arrived it wasn’t long before she became acquainted with swimming at the lake. As she grew older, she became a champion competitor at University of Buffalo, as a scholarship athlete. Her dad was her number one supporter. Cristina always knew he was her biggest fan in the stands. “He had a way of making a very low, but audible cheer, to rally my spirits as I competed. It was always comforting to know he was there for me.”
John had a big presence. When he entered the room, everyone knew it. He loved to tell jokes, and lighten the mood. Cristina said he even had a special way of saying goodbye on the phone. “When our conversation was about to end, he would say ‘who loves me?’, and my response would always be, ‘I do, Dad’…and then we would laugh.”
A loving neighbor along the Eagle Point shoreline, Kristin Johnson, captured this photo of a Clark Lake rainbow late this afternoon. She forwarded it to the family, as if to share a special message.
The family will hold a Celebration of Life at Holy Faith Church, 6299 Ann Arbor-Saline Road. The visitation will take place on Friday, January 11, 6-8 pm. The service is at 12 noon, the next day, Saturday January 12. The family will be there an hour before the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests the GoFundMe website and search for John Czyrka—or a charity of your choice.
Click for the obituary as it appears on MLive.
Beautiful tribute Rick. Our love and support go out to the Lyons/Czyrka Family.
Big Dog’s presence will be immensely missed. The sunsets will never be the same without him. My heart is broken for friends and family.
Barb and Christina we are so sorry for your loss.We will continue to pray for your family.
Barb and Christina you are being held close in my heart. I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet husband and father.
Man I loved that guy!! Was a real man with a great smile!! Sorry for your loss.
Barb and Cristina my heart is breaking for you. I am so sorry for your loss. Please know my thoughts and prayers are with you.
John , I met you patrolling at Mt Brighton. I will miss the smile on your face and your jokes. I am sorry for your loss
John Czyrka was one of the nicest and funniest men I’ve had the pleasure and honor of knowing. No matter the occasion, or situation, he always seemed to be happy and smiling and never failed to make everyone around him laugh (usually with a joke involving bacon). I am deeply saddened by the news of his passing and will miss him greatly. My sympathies and prayers to his friends and family. And of course a sincere prayer that John’s place in heaven comes with unlimited slope-side bacon and lift tickets.
I’m truly sorry for your loss. Thoughts and prayers to the family.
Barb and Christina, as part of this family and loved John as if he were my own cousin, my heart breaks for both of you. John was the nicest person I ever met and was so glad he was part of the family. Having been a part of your wedding and remembering that day, I knew you and John were made for each other. Christina, I could tell by his posts about you and your swimming that he was your biggest supporter along with your Mom. I will definitely miss his posts about bacon (even Jimmy made the comment that there would be more bacon jokes), and the beautiful sunsets from Clark Lake. I am so glad we came to Jackson for Aunt Dorothy’s funeral because that would be the last time I would see him. Love to both of you.
Barb and Christina, my heart is breaking for you. I’m sending love and prayers to you both.
Barb and Cristina, I am so sorry for your loss. ? i had a beer with John last summer in Holland and he talked so fondly of the two of you! ❤️ ?Sheryl Thimm
Barb & Kristina, I am sitting here in shock of learning of John’s passing. He loved you both so deeply. We had a lot of fun with the Ann Arbor Ski Club & then skiing on the slopes as National Ski Patrollers to his Facebook Post of laughter. Heaven has gained another great guy. RIP dear friend. Prayers of comfort & peace to you
Dearest Barb & Family . I did not know your John, but this beautiful legacy story says so much about his spirit & Love of Family .
I send prayers and comfort for healing. Take care . ??♥️
We have so many fond memories of AA Ski Club & Bus C with John & Barb. You’re in our thoughts & prayers…
Barb and family, I am shocked at hearing of John’s passing. My heart goes out to you for your loss. It just does not seem real that his immense presence is not still with us all. We will miss him and his boisterous good nature and caring self. You will always have wonderful memories.
You are all in our thoughts and prayers. Mark and Suzi Moran
My deepest sympathy Barbara and Christina for your loss. I have very fond memories of John as we trained side by side with the national ski patrol and later serving with the NSP. My heart goes out to you both and extended family. May God hold you all close as you go through this difficult time.
Very sorry to hear of John’s passing. We remember John as a fun loving guy who always had a smile and a joke ready for any occasion. His skiing and softball prowess will be remembered by those of us who played with him. He and his wife Barbara are truly fine folks and we’ll miss his warm smile and gentle manner. He was always a pleasure to be with. John was truly one of the good guys.
Barb and Christina – Very sorry to hear about John, at such a young age,way too soon. My thoughts and prayers are with you both.
Barb and Cristina, We are so sorry to hear this. John was always so much fun at the UB swim meets, and he had such pride in the teams. We are keeping you all in our prayers.
Barb and Cristina,
We are so sorry for your loss. We have fond memories of John from SST and church. During Lent the congregation refrained from saying Halalulea. Once Easter arrived and timing was appropriate during the sermon, John would vociferously belt out a robust Halalulea to make up for the long absence. We will miss him and know that he is singing loud in Heaven. – Mary & Leif Jensen.
Barbara and Cristina, my thoughts and prayers are with you.John always treated me with a smile
Barb and Cristina – so very sorry for your loss. John was such a wonderful man – so full of love for life and his family. I can still hear him whistling the cadence at the swim meets! Talks recently of grown up children and enjoying the lake life. Sending our love and prayers for you!
Judee Gniewek and Bob Remenapp
Been thinking about John Czyrka for the past couple of days and how best to honor his memory. There are so many, many stories I could tell about our growing up while attending Leland. Some I can tell, some I dare not in mixed company! But regardless of the tale, all of them bring a smile to my face.
So, I chose one I thought was one of the best. No, it’s not the shaving cream story, and not the 440 hurdle race story, nor the senior year perm, and DEFINITELY not the coming-home-from-an-away-game-on-the-bus mantra! Or the McDonald’s onion story. And let us not forget the seven-player pile up at the District finals our senior year against Glen Lake in boy’s basketball. I still have a scar on my knee from this interstate pile up. In the interest of time, let’s leave those stories untold for yet another day.
Let me set the background to my story: picture the small gym at Leland back in our middle school days. It was 1974; a time when the hair was long, the basketball shorts were short, and the socks were long. Larry Glass, fresh from his head coaching gig at Northwestern University, was our coach.
Now you have to remember–it was sort of a wild time. Discipline was spotty in the classrooms. If you looked hard enough, you could swear the gym during lunch period was one-hunt short out of a scene from the Lord of the Flies. But having Coach Glass was different; he was funny and ruled us with an iron hand.
We didn’t seem to mind his dry sense of humor which had us wondering who in the hell Hector was, and why wasn’t he much younger than a pup? It was cool that he would let us watch the endless loop player he provided us during our free time in the portable classrooms. Each with clean cut players dressed in white basketball attire demonstrating the “proper” techniques how to shoot several types of basketball shots.
Over a two-year period, we watched them more frequently than the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner cartoons that were broadcast on our old black-n-white TV sets that we watched right after school. Anyways, it was a new experience for us. Having an ex-Big 10 coach in our hip pocket propelled our 7th grade team to new heights—one where we didn’t lose one single game.
Then came the final one, the one against TC St. Francis in the small gym with the fan backboards and hardly any space to stand out of bounds on the end lines where a person could comfortably throw a ball into play. So there we were, getting our collective butts handed to us. That was the same game Blake Smith fell and did a face plant on the gym floor, with his tongue hanging out. Poor guy—he came back to the huddle with a fuzzy tongue, all covered with dust and debris from the floor. Needless to say Blake never played organized basketball again! But now on to John’s role in this story. On our team, John was responsible to inbound the ball on all out-of-bounds plays. Coach Glass enshrined this honor to him when the season started. With only five seconds to throw the ball in, John had to assess what the defense gave him and then make a choice to whom to throw the ball. If all else failed, Coach Glass taught us to bang the ball of the person guarding the inbound passer’s leg to reset the play.
Because most defenses we saw that season were made up of clueless kids just like us, John never got to the five second mark that entire season to the point where he had to make that choice. So in this final game, he found himself guarded by John Sweeny, whose brother was considered a basketball legend in this area several years prior–AND who would one day evolve into a first rate player.
To this day, I can still see the look in John’s eyes. At that time, his nickname was Bruno as nobody, and I mean nobody, called him by his “real” name. So there was Sweeny, jumping up and down, throwing his legs sideways to block any path the inbound throw might go….and slowly, the official started to count….one….two…three…four….
Now by this time, Bruno knew he was in deep doo-doo…time was melting away faster than a box of Crispy Cream donuts at a Weight Watcher’s convention….what do do…what to do… As the one who had to set a pick for Greg Kelly, I could see the look of sheer panic in Bruno’s eyes. He knew he had but one option left–take the ball and bang it off one of Sweeny’s legs to reset the clock. But I could tell Bruno’s decision making process developed a serious flaw: Sweeny was jumping up and down, kicking both legs side to side. That presented a minimal target at best. So with sheer determination, Bruno took the ball, and with all the power he could muster from his 7th grade arms, threw the ball into Sweeny as hard as he could into what he thought was one of Sweeny’s legs.
Only, it wasn’t.
Sometimes the forces of Nature take an unexpected twist. In his desire to follow coach’s instructions to the letter, Bruno THOUGHT he was aiming for an upper thigh, but sadly (at least for Sweeny), his geographic aim took the ball on a different path. Like a poorly designed Scud missile, it was one that changed Sweeny’s immediate outlook on life and ramped up man-pain to a whole new level.
As for the Forces of Nature: Sweeny ended up in a pile on the floor, screaming his head off, curled up in a tight ball, wondering if he would live or die and not caring either way. As I remember: it was the sound that was unique….like a bag of flour being dropped on a piece of plywood.
I can still see the kid’s eyes to this day. Remember those old Andy Griffin shows with Don Knotts who played Barny Fife? And the bulging eyes when something weird happened? Take that times two and you’ve got the picture.
So back to the story. The ref never blew the whistle as he was trying not to laugh. The other plays were watching the events unfold in morbid fascination. John slowly, nonchalantly made his way back to our bench. So, while the St. Francis coaching staff got Sweeny to his feet and literally carried him back to the visitors bench, we stood there watching.
Some of us expected coach Glass to be annoyed and say something to Bruno. But once again his dry sense of humor won the day. “Good pass” is all he said.
As Ralphie said in the Christmas Story, all was right with the world once again. Yes, we lost by a zillion points that day, and yes, our pride was rebuffed by losing, but Bruno managed to summarize our frustration with one simple yet poignant act.
I wish I could tell you there weren’t similar instances where he made a similar choice during our basketball playing days. I can’t cuz there were….
Sweeny did recover (I think), but he gave Bruno a wide berth each and every time they crossed paths over the years. But for that one day, he was our hero; brave enough to do the unimaginable, the unthinkable, and laugh about it afterwards.