Rozycki, Stanley
(May 8, 1882 - Nov. 20, 1974)
Building contractorLike the family of actress Grace Kelly in Philadelphia, where her father was a prominent building contractor and his son was a politician of lessor importance, the Rozycki family of Detroit distinguished themselves in construction work and politics. Stanley Rozycki was born in the German zone of partition of Poland, the son of Frank and Frances Josephine Rozycki, who had eleven children. The year of his arrival is uncertain. Whether it was 1898 or 1901, he went to work for one building contractor after another in Detroit, advancing from laborer to carpenter. While building houses for Stanley Chronowski, Homer Warren, and other developers, he studied the costs of construction and when he organized his own company with a brother in 1909 he was able to compete predominately with building contractors of churches and schools. Among the churches and schools he built in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Wyandotte were St. Hyacinth, Bethel Evangelical, St. Florian, St. Thomas, St. Agnes, Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the churches of the Assumption and the Blessed Virgin Mary; St. Hedwig's parish house and school. He built the first public school in Hamtramck, the Miller school in Springwells; Notre Dame convent, and the Polish Seminary at Orchard Lake after it moved from Detroit. He also put up other buildings, including office buildings and factories, in Detroit, as well as the residences of William E. Keane in Grosse Point; Frank Schmidt in Arden Park; and the mansions in Detroit for E.M. Coleman and Paul Weidner. He did all the estimating himself for these contracts and employed from 25 to 75 carpenters, masons, and other workers.
With Anna Guzicki, whom he married in 1905, he had seven children: Amelia, Stanley F., Walter J., Harry J., Irene, Anna and Arthur Raymond. His son, Stanley F. Rozycki (April 12, 1908 - Dec. 3, 2002), ran for political office more than any other Pole in Detroit. He lost at least 11 elections and was a Michigan state senator from 1955 to 1974.
The building contractor was a leader of the Polish community in the east side of Detroit and was responsible for the first Dom Polski (Polish Home) in Detroit. One wonders whether he deserves credit for the first Pulaski Day parades in Detroit. Looking back, the building, designed by Joseph G. Kastler and built in 1912 for the Polish Falcons, had its shares of fans who remembered the polka bands and orchestra leaders who performed there, political meetings, and social affairs. When Stanley Rozycki was president of Detroit's Association of Poles, he would gavel it to order in Dom Polski. During the exodus of the Polish families to the suburbs, Dom Polski was closed. Stanley Rozycki died in Detroit, and his son of the same name in Ft. Myers, Florida.
From: Edward Pinkowski (2009)
Rozycki, Stanislaus
Civic leader. President of Association of Poles in Detroit, Mich. Catholic. Residence: 1950 East Canfield Ave., Detroit, Mich.From: "Who's Who in Polish America" by Rev. Francis Bolek, Editor-in-Chief; Harbinger House, New York, 1943