Frank Robert DuPage, Jr. was born on February 8, 1925 and
died seven days short of his 90th birthday on February 1, 2015. He was called Jay,
short for Junior. He married Florence (Flo) Virginia Abrams
on April 19, 1947. They lived in Detroit, at 19365 Klinger Street, near 7 Mile
and Ryan during their early married lives. Their only child, Phillip Frances
DuPage, was born while they lived in
that house, in 1949.
When I was thinking about writing this article, I told my
sister, Jeneen, I could not find the DuPages on any censuses. I couldn't understand it -
that was when she informed me that DuPage was not the original name. Jay was
born to Frank and Elizabeth (Adamczyk) Dudkiewicz, in Chicago, Illinois. The
story is that when Frank started work at a factory, he told the supervisor his
name in the noisy factory. The man thought he said DuPage and it stuck. He
eventually changed it legally. A good Polish name if ever there was one, probably
just as well.
Jay retired from the Burroughs Manufacturing Co., in
Detroit. Jay, Flo and Phil moved to Harsens Island in St. Clair County,
Michigan, in June 1969. Jay started the DuPage Marine Construction business on
the Island, putting seawalls in. Eventually, the business grew to include
making docks and any other construction that was needed on an island and near
the water. Jay even saved the islanders money when he designed the seawalls or
docks for them, instead of them having to hire an architect. He charged them
half of what they would have had to pay when a design was needed for the required
permit. Phil joined him after serving in Vietnam and continued the business
after Jay retired, and now Phil is retired from the company.
Jay enjoyed whittling in his spare time. He always had a
"girlie" calendar in his shop, with the nude pictures changing each
month. As the calendar page changed, he would whittle the latest female figure. He had quite a talent and Flo still has many
of these small statues. He loved dancing and music and whenever there was an
occasion, he could be found on the dance floor. Family was very important to
him and Phil remembers many vacations up north on Londo Lake in Hale, MI. Jeneen remembers him being a great reader with
a book always being at hand and he would readily share the books with her or
others.
Jay had two brothers, Theodore and Robert, both predeceased
him. His older sister, Gertrude Wolshon, is still living. He had a sister,
Doris, who died as a 2-year-old in 1920. He and Flo were members of St. Mark's
Church and Jay was a member of the Men's Club at the church, as well as the
Lion's Club on Harsens Island.
Jay served in WWII, with the 35th Division in England/German/France/Belgium
and Holland. He was: Pvt - Ordnance Basic=521; Pvt - Infantry Basic-521; and
Pfc - Rifleman-745. He assisted in direct fire on the enemy, operated a
walkie-talkie radio, acted as a runner, did a lot of patrol work and was
familiar with all infantry weapons. He enlisted on July 29, 1943 and served
until November 21, 1945, when he separated at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. He had both a
Bronze Star and a CIB (Contact in Battle) medal. Phil says his father never
talked about his time in the service, which I think is typical of that
generation. So many stories have been lost.
Jay is survived by his widow, Flo; his son, Phil and Phil's
wife, Jeneen; his sister, Gertrude, as well as two grandchildren and one
step-granddaughter. He also leaves behind several great-grandchildren, step-great-grandchildren,
and one step-great-great granddaughter.
Jay was cremated and had a full military service with a
21-gun salute on Sunday, February 8 - which would have been his 90th birthday.
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