Zawada Family History

A portrait of Joe Zawada
Life after Calumet

Joseph Daniel Wades was born on March 14, 1897 in Calumet, Michigan. He was the second of nine children, and was also the second of three boys in that family.

Joe didn't have a very long childhood. When Joe was only twelve years old, his father Frank had a bad accident in the copper mine, which resulted in Frank having to have his leg amputated. Until that point, Frank had been the only person in the family who was working to support everyone. When Frank lost his leg, his sons Frank Jr. and Joseph went to work at the copper mines in his place. Joe's childhood ended at the age of twelve.
Though Joe never worked under ground in the mines, he did become an accomplished blacksmith in the Calumet & Hecla tool shop above ground.

Joe spent the rest of his teenage years and into his twenties working for mines and factories. Eventually, Joe worked at a railroad in Detroit as a clerk, and then when World War II broke out, Joe went to work for the Department of Defense, ordering tank parts.

Joe married Isabel Beatrice Milne on May 27, 1939, and they had two children. Gerald Daniel Wades was born on April 14, 1942, and Carl Joseph Wades was born on November 1, 1944.

Gerald (Jerry) remembers his father as a harsh man "with hands the size of sherman tanks", and that when Jerry and his brother Carl would get into fights, Joe would "crack our heads together like melons."

Isabel too had written a poem about her husband's temper:

Dissension, dissension
in every dimension
one could mention!

Oh won't someone
Please throw away the key
That opens the floodgates of insufficient self pity

That makes one say the words that hurt and dismay
"I told you so - you just won't learn"
Stupid no good words that burn
Into the soul of young and old
Til they yearn to say
"Who are you and what have you done"
That you alone
Only you under the sun
Have the right to judge one's imperfection
Have you ever felt the sting of rejection?
You have much to learn - mistakes came from having to choose
Man's only power - either to win or lose
Give us time to grow - to learn - to feel our way
Don't use the lash of the tongue to destroy us,
make us pay
In the simple things
that day by day
you have built
into a mountain of regret.
Please let us forget -
Someday when we are old and no one seems to care -
It will be too late
for kind words - too late to share -
In only a shell of ourselves will be there.

Joe's sons Jerry and Carl both joined the military in the early 1960's. Jerry was involved in the rescue mission in the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, whereby the United States had backed some Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of Cuba's dictator Fidel Castro.
The mission failed and the exiles were killed by Castro's army. The U.S. troops involved were taken as prisoners. Jerry was part of the Navy team that went in and rescued the U.S. soldiers in October, 1962.

While his sons were in the military, Joe stayed on with the Department of Defense until his retirement in 1965. Joe did so well in his career at the DOD that he achieved a level of GS14 (General Schedule, Grade 14, which is the civilian equivalent of a lieutenant colonel).

Two years into Joe's retirement, in September of 1967, while at home, he had a heart attack. Either shortly before or during the attack, Joe scribbled out notes to his wife Isabel on where to find the storm windows and how to install them, because he knew he wasn't going to be around much longer.

Then, Joe collapsed under the kitchen table and died.

Like his father, Joe leaves behind a legacy for future generations to live off of. Joe contributed to copper mining, iron ore mining, the auto industry, the railroad industry, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Joe was a devout Catholic who shared religious space in the home with his wife Isabel's Evangelical religion to give his children a choice in their religious upbringing. Joe also utilized the skills he gained as a blacksmith to keep his homestead running smoothly. When Isabel took to putting on marionette puppet shows for children, Joe helped her prepare backstage.

Although Joe was raised in the midst of hard times, and had his childhood cut short to go to work and help support his family, Joe remained a dutiful son and a dutiful husband to the end, sometimes showing affection when he felt brave enough to let that side shine through all his years of hardship.

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