Michael Gene Jablonski passed away Saturday, May 27, 2023, at Aurora Medical Center, Kenosha, WI.
He was born on November 12, 1954, at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington. D.C. to Eugene L. and Dolores M. Jablonski (Buchberger). Eugene, Dolores and Michael relocated to Kenosha, WI from Wausau, WI in the early 1960’s.
Michael enjoyed working on cars especially “muscle cars” and being with his friends in his youth. In 1971, while working and loading a ship in the Kenosha harbor, a full pallet was lifted and then suddenly shifted causing objects to fall from the pallet and landing on top of Michael, leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Michael never let that accident slow him down; he was very independent. And insisted on doing things himself, even changing his own oil and doing the maintenance on his Monte Carlo SS, cutting his own grass, blowing his own snow, doing his own shopping, and he even liked to cook. Michael enjoyed going fishing on Lake Michigan, he was so excited when they put in the handicapped piers, and very upset later when the City of Kenosha later took them out. He would make his way to the Lake Geneva and Racine areas to fish and would even make and tie his own fishing poles.
Michael was preceded in death by his parents Eugene and Dolores Jablonski. He is survived by his sister, Debbie Jablonski-Wick and brother in-law Steven Wick of Kenosha, WI.
His lifelong friends Roger, Mike, and Steve said, they knew Michael as a soft-spoken man with a big heart and will be dearly missed. He always said, “This kind of life was a living Hell”, I know having his friends close made things a bit better.
A special thanks to those who have helped us in the last lap, his friends, his home care nurses, Aurora ICU staff, Sunshine Transport Service, Lakeview Rehab, Aurora at Home Hospice, and Dr. Pulla.
Memorial visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 9, 2023, at Proko Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, those desiring may make contributions to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation, at www.christopherreeve.org, in Mike’s memory.
