Angeline F. Sienkowski

Angeline Frances (Jaje) Sienkowski passed away on March 12, 2026, with her daughters at her side. Fiercely independent and tough, she bravely faced many challenges throughout her long life. She built a successful career while running her family home, preserved rich family history, and maintained the house her father built on Lonyo in Detroit. A stickler for accuracy and detail, she carefully considered every decision across a lifetime that began before refrigerators were common in homes.

Born on April 14, 1928, in Detroit to Joseph and Stephanie (Kuc) Jaje, Angeline graduated magna cum laude from Chadsey High School in 1946 and with high honors from Dearborn Junior College in 1948. She earned a scholarship to the University of Michigan School of Business Administration, receiving her BBA and teaching certificate in 1950, followed by a Master of Arts in 1959 at a time when few women pursued such advanced degrees. She taught commercial subjects at Roseville High School until 1955, then became a professor at Henry Ford Community College, where she taught until her retirement in 1985.

On June 23, 1962, Angeline married Edward Sienkowski, whom she had first met as a child at St. Cunegunda grade school. They shared nearly fifty-seven years of marriage until Edward’s death in 2019. She was the cherished mother of Marie Sienkowski (Laura Smith) and Diane Wallis (Tim), devoted grandmother of Kelsey Abbas (Arib) and Ellie Wallis, and loving great-grandmother of Zain Abbas. As the youngest of six siblings, she was predeceased by Eleanore Oleszkowicz (Joseph), Sister M. Joanne, Joseph Jaje, Jr. (Stella and June), Adele Pozdol (Alphonse), and Adolph Jaje (Frances). She remained a loving aunt to many nieces and nephews and held a special place in her heart for all her godchildren.

Angeline will long be remembered for her laughter and giggling, her love of daisies and gift shops, and her enjoyment of chicken soup, stuffed pepper soup, and coconut cream pie. In her early years she created beautiful embroidery, and while living on the Jaje farm she had a pet lamb. All her life she loved small dogs, raising Pomeranians in the 1960s and later cherishing Finnegan the poodle and Mitzi the shih tzu-Lhasa apso mix. She enjoyed trips to Frankenmuth and family vacations in Petoskey. At the birth of her first grandchild when she was seventy, she declared herself too young to be a grandmother, adopted the nickname Nana, and embraced the role with wholehearted devotion, babysitting and lovingly pushing food on her grandchildren.