Mrs. Gizella 'Stella' Daisy

Gizella "Stella" Daisy, age 91 of Taylor, passed away February 21, 2014. Family and friends of Stella Daisy most likely think of her as a friendly and good-natured homemaker; a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. But looks can be deceiving. While much of the world teetered on the edge of the abyss during the armed struggle that was the Second World War, Stella was manning the home front in Detroit's Arsenal of Democracy, where she was literally employed as "Rosie the Riveter" (her middle name is, after all, "Rose") at Henry Ford's sprawling Willow Run bomber plant near Ypsilanti. Stella employed a well-developed sense of stubbornness and tenacity to overcome obstacles and challenges. In addition to the riveting, the diminutive, five-foot, three-inch brunette was a welder, did her share of wiring and even a little bit of arc welding for good measure. It was only after the war, and the onset of motherhood, that she settled into the homemaker role because that's the way it was then. Men were the breadwinners. Women stayed at home to raise the kids, and concerned themselves with family things. Stella's parents, Ferenc "Frank" (1884-1924) and Rozalia Sepesi Kasa (1882 or 4-1943) hailed from Maklár, a small village in northeast Hungary, roughly 100 miles from the capital, Budapest. Disenchanted amid the buildup to the First World War, the couple joined thousands of others… tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to start new lives and breathe free just beyond America's sea-washed, welcoming shores in the opening years of the twentieth century. Ferenc was the first to arrive, aboard the Potsdam in April 1913, followed a few months later by Rozalia on the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria in February 1914. Though Stella once said that her father worked as a border guard in the old country, he listed his occupation on the application for U.S. citizenship as "farmer". Accordingly, the newly arrived couple took up residence on a small farm in Trenton, Michigan in Downriver Detroit. Out of a total of nine children, Stella and four brothers and sisters survived into adulthood. Ferenc, or Frank Jr. (January 1911 – June 2001), was the first, showing up prior to the trip to America. After Frank came Mary Ann (April 1916 – June 2003), John Frank (February 1918 – March 1986), Stella in 1922, and Rudolph Joseph, or Rudy (February 1924 – January 2007). On March 10, 1945, Stella married Andrew Albert Daisy (July 1920 – September 1984), who was at the time a member of the US Army Air Corps on active duty. Stella and Andy had two children, Andrea Rose in July 1947, and Michael Anthony in January 1951. In May 1956, Stella, Andy and the two kids moved from the working class neighborhood on Chamberlain near the then, heavily-Hungarian populated Delray section of southwest Detroit to a new Levittown-like, suburban residential community in Taylor in Downriver Detroit. Both Andy and Stella would spend the rest of their lives in the Taylor house. Following Andy's death in 1984, Stella liked to recount the visitation she received from him. Accordingly, Andy told her that he was doing just fine, and that he would come back for her when it was her time to go. So she waited for Andy's return. And she waited. In January 2014, about a month before her passing, Stella was rushed to the emergency room in respiratory distress and on death's doorstep. It was at that time that she said she received a visit from her older brother Frank, who announced, "I've come to get you, Stella, it's your time." "Where's Andy?", she demanded. "Andy is busy, and couldn't make it, so they sent me in his place," said Frank. Stella said she told him, "I'll wait for Andy." On February 21, in the tiny bedroom of the Taylor home where Stella spent the last 57 years of her life, Andy finally came for her. Stella Daisy is survived by her daughter Andrea Rich of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and son, Michael Daisy of Wyandotte, Michigan. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Gregory, Patrick, and Stephanie Rich, and a large number of nieces and nephews.