Michael Scott Psenicka, 54, was taken from us way too soon Monday evening as he passed away unexpectedly of natural causes at his office.
Mike was the third generation of Psenicka’s to own The Neighborhood News, located in Garfield Heights, the weekly newspaper started by his grandfather in 1923, covering southeast Cleveland and suburbs with community news.
He was a graduate of Aurora High School, Cuyahoga Community College and studied business at Kent State University.
Mike met the love of his life in Elena Spitsak, and they were married in a beautiful fall ceremony at Mill Creek Falls in Slavic Village on Sweetest Day, Oct. 16, 2010.
He also inherited another family business, Maws Sauce, when his stepfather died and his mother passed down to Mike her now famous Maws recipe. He and Elena built up the barbecue sauce line to include a number of other sauces and rubs delivered all over northeastern Ohio.
Mike and Elena enjoyed sailing on Lake Erie, skiing in the winters and traveling across the country when their busy lives allowed.
Mike was a kind, generous man who was always the first to lend a helping hand to family, friends and complete strangers. He especially liked doing home renovation work and became quite skilled at all the talents that entailed.
Survivors include his wife, Elena, mother, Mary Ann Westbrook, stepmother Ellen Psenicka, brothers James C. and Brett G. Psenicka, uncle Ray Babinec (Bernadine), and aunt Geraldine Buchman, brother-in-law Larry Gordijenko and step-aunts Carol Schemmer, Jean Fries and Kim Schemmer, and various nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, James V. Psenicka, stepfather Rod Westbrook, uncle Milton Psenicka, aunt Sandra Psenicka, father-in-law Nikolai Spitsak and mother-in-law Valentina and brother-in-law Grigori Spitsak.
Funeral services will be private, but a memorial service will be planned for a later date once the pandemic is over. Arrangements by Golubski-Deliberato Funeral Home of Garfield Heights. Burial in Evergreen Cemetery in Streetsboro, OH.
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