Mel Juntunen: Dec. 9, 1943 - Feb. 5, 2020

Mel Juntunen

Dec. 9, 1943 - Feb. 5, 2020

Mel Juntunen passed away at his home on February 5th, 2020. He had said many times in the last year that he would die when he was 76 years old, just as his dad did, and wanted to go without seeing it coming and without knowing what hit him. I told him that was likely not going to happen, but being a man who hated to be wrong, that is exactly how he went just a couple months after his 76th birthday.

He was born Melvyn Karl Juntunen on December 9th, 1943 to Elmer and Bertha Juntunen in Highland Park Michigan, the youngest of 3 children (Brother-Wallace and Sister-Jackie). He never liked the name Melvyn, but when his mother told him it was a nice name he made sure to tell her it was as nice a name as Bertha was. It was quite a dinner conversation when she came for a visit.

Growing up in Michigan he became a big fan of all things Detroit and remained loyal to them even after being in Chicago half his life. He loved Bates burgers, coney dogs (only with natural casing dogs), pasties (a Cornish meat pie not an exotic dancer’s accessory), Vernor’s ginger ale, the Red Wings, the Tigers and watching the Lions have losing seasons, especially the season they went 0-16. Shortly after graduating from Redford High School he started working for Montgomery Wards and married Carolee, his wife of nearly 46 years. Wards moved them from Allen Park Michigan where their son Matt was born, to Grand Rapids where their daughter Lisa was born. Then to Ft. Wayne Indiana, Canton Michigan, and finally to Naperville Illinois in 1983, just in time for the Detroit Tigers to win a World Series Championship the following year just after he moved out of Michigan. I think he was still mad decades later about that.

A few months after moving to Naperville I told him I was sick of moving when I heard we were going to be moving to Kansas City, so dad decided to stay in Naperville until his death 37 years later. He said he quit his job to spare his family another move, but later he may have admitted that he did not like Kansas City, thought it would have been a rotten place to live aside from the bbq and that might have had something to do with his decision to quit. I’m pretty sure it was the love for his family that forced him to quit though. Mom and Dad raised 2 terrific children, who turned into 2 rotten teenagers, who then became 2 wonderful adults, although it may have taken Matt awhile into adulthood to get there. Myself and Lisa both went through our phases where being a parent had to be a very difficult task with little gratification, myself more so than her, but he exhibited great love and patience through all of the challenging times.

Lisa’s life was cut short when she was just 22 years old. This was devastating for the whole family, but I think especially for my dad. Lisa would complain to me that dad would call her every single day after she moved out of their house. He missed her when she lived in Chicago, and missed her even more when she was gone. I understood what she was talking about because he started calling me every day after she died, but I didn’t mind, I liked talking to him and we still spoke a few times a week all the way up until last week.

Mom and dad’s driveway had become the place for my friends and I to hang out a few years after Lisa’s death. My mother loved playing hostess and dad loved sitting around drinking beer and bs’ing with all of us. We spent a lot of time sitting in that driveway drinking Keystone Light, talking, laughing and listening to Bob Seger being cranked at high volume from my dad’s friend’s corvette parked in the middle of the street at 10:00 at night because apparently that is how 55 year old men behave after drinking Keystone in a driveway all afternoon. My parents really enjoyed this time with my friends, their friends and neighbors as it seemed to fill the void left by my sister in some ways. All the way up until the week he died, dad and I still enjoyed drinking cheap beer together in his driveway when the weather was good enough for him, or at his favorite watering hole on most Saturdays and the occasional Monday or Wednesday.

In 2010 mom was diagnosed with cancer. For the first time in his life he was forced to take care of someone, as I am pretty sure he moved right out of his parent’s house into one with my mom and always had either his mom or my mom to take care of him. The first time my mom went out after I was born my dad and grandpa had to “babysit” me. Neither of them had any idea what to do when I wouldn’t stop crying, yet somehow, he managed to do a bang up job of taking care of my mom through her illness. He had note cards on top of the dryer on how to laundry. He learned to cook, and even cleaned the house for her. She got to all her doctor appointments and he was with her every day until the very end. He always thought he would go before her so it was tough for him, but he managed to find some joy after she left.

After she passed, he decided he needed to get a job so he would have a reason to leave the house. He got what he called “the easiest job in the world” driving 3 days a week for Enterprise. He would drive a car one way and then ride back with one of the guys he worked with. He really enjoyed their company and always told me stories about these guys lives and would recommend places for me to eat all the time based on what these guys would tell him. It was good for him to get out of the house and spend time with an interesting group of guys, besides the interesting group of guys he hung out with at The Can.

He became a Father-In-Law in 2012 (Melissa), just weeks before my mother died. When Melissa asked him if she could call him “Dad” he matter-of-factly replied “No.” Years later he started signing birthday and Christmas cards to her “Love, Dad.” That was when I knew he accepted her as a daughter, nearly the same as he did Lisa, although he only called Melissa on her birthday. In 2014 he became a grandpa for the 1st time (Spencer) and in 2016 for a 2nd time (Zachary). He couldn’t have been prouder or happier to become Grandpa Juntunen.

Although he refused to babysit until they were both out of diapers and totally potty trained, he still loved seeing them whenever he could. His grandchildren both loved him and enjoyed seeing him as well. Whenever they were over, he would let them go into the junk food drawer and grab twinkies or whatever unhealthy snacks they wanted that they were not typically allowed at home. They would steal his favorite recliner from him whenever he stood up and he would have to wrestle them out of it. He laughed when they banged on the piano, and I think he even got a kick out of them making mustaches with their index fingers and saying in gruff voices “I’m Grandpa Juntunen.” Unfortunately, he never got to see them do their spaghetti mustaches as that is my favorite prop they use when impersonating him.

I am thankful he had a group of people he called his friends and was able to spend time with all of you over the years. I am thankful he stayed in touch with family and friends in Michigan. I am thankful he had a relationship with my wife and her family. I am thankful he got to know and love his grand kids. But most of all I am thankful that he and I were close and that he was my dad. I couldn’t have asked for a better father and I hope you all remember him as fondly as I do. I love you and miss you dad.