Ronald Lee Warsaw

Ronald “Ron” Lee Warsaw, 76, of Van Buren Township, Michigan, passed away peacefully on June 9, 2026, at Angela Hospice in Livonia — early in the morning, near the hour he liked to rise. Ron was born in Detroit on January 17, 1950, the son of Roy Warsaw and Gertrude Archer. At eighteen he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving from 1968 to 1972 aboard the destroyer USS Benjamin Stoddert during the Vietnam War, with service in Vietnam and Korea, and was honorably discharged. The Navy made him a cook — a job he never really retired from, as anyone who ever left his home hungry can attest, because no one ever did. He came home to Michigan and gave more than three decades to General Motors, from Detroit Diesel to Lake Orion to the Hamtramck plant, building cars for people who would never know his name. He was a man of the line: steady, uncomplaining, and proud. In his late fifties he was diagnosed with stage-four cancer, beat it without fanfare, and went back to work until full retirement — which tells you most of what you need to know about him and his strength of character. In 2001, Ron married the love of his life, Olimpia. For twenty plus years he brought her yellow roses, her favorite, for no occasion other than that she existed. Together they tended a beloved garden, kept a house full of well-spoiled dogs and one opinionated cat, and single-handedly sustained several Michigan bakeries and one pie company, where Ron held elite membership status of which he was inordinately proud. Olimpia preceded him in death in 2020, and those who knew Ron understood that a large part of him went with her. In his final years he found his congregation at his own back door, where he fed and named the neighborhood deer, raccoons, cats, and squirrels, and knew each of their personalities by heart. In the last weeks of his life, Ron quietly came to faith in God, and he died at peace. Ron is survived by his stepson, Claudiu Coltea, and son-in-law, Michael Hatty, who loved him as a father; by his dear and lifelong friend Ruth; and by his in-laws whom he considered family and the dearest of friends - the honorable Judge Michael P Hatty and his large and beautiful extended family. He was preceded in death by his wife, Olimpia, and his parents. He was, in the truest sense, a gentle man — slow to anger except at unkindness, generous to anything that arrived hungry, and living proof that an ordinary life, lived with an extraordinary heart, is no ordinary thing. Visitation will be held on Thursday, July 9, 2026, from 4:00 until the 7:00 PM at Vermeulen-Sajewski Funeral Home 46401 Ann Arbor Road W (between Beck and Sheldon). Funeral Service will be held on Friday, July 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM at Vermeulen-Sajewski Funeral Home. Interment will take place at United Memorial Gardens, Superior Township, with arrangements entrusted to Vermeulen-Sajewski Funeral Home, Plymouth. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the Michigan Human Society (www.michiganhumane.org), or a local animal shelter and wildlife rescue — or simply put a little food out at dusk, and see who comes. To share a memory, please use the Share a Memory tab on this web page.

Ronald Lee Warsaw

January 17, 1950 - June 9, 2026