Safe Home Patrick Luskin, Stephen Tirpak

Patrick J. Luskin

Age 41. Beloved husband of Megan (nee Maurath); loving son of John and Barbara (nee Nieser); dear brother of Bridgid Skidmore (Michael) of Denver; cherished uncle of Rian, Augustus and Mikaela Skidmore, and Rory, Brigid and Shane Malone; fond cousin to many; good friend of Timber, Bailey and Maybelle. Proud graduate of Benedictine High School. Member of the United States Army 3rd Infantry Division FA1-9, 1st Armored Division FA2-3. Participant, Operation Iraqi Freedom and recipient of Combat Action Badge. Proud resident of Georgia. In lieu of flowers, contributions suggested to Little Brothers and Sisters of the Eucharist, 3675 W. 165th St., Cleveland, OH 44111 or Benedictine Athletic Department, 2900 Martin Luther King Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44104.
Interment at 1:00 p.m. at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, Seville. Please sign Tribute Wall at: www.schultemahonmurphy.com

STEPHEN G. TIRPAK

October 09, 1938 – March 12, 2020

On October 9, 1938, Elizabeth (nee Tweardy) and Stephen Tirpak welcomed their beloved son, Stephen George, at Deaconess Hospital. Baptized at Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church, he was raised in the Byzantine tradition and celebrated with his family and extended family from Monessen, Penn., the richness of their Czechoslovakian heritage. He learned from his parents the value of simplicity, practicality, manual labor, hard work, faith and perseverance.

Initially creating a life in Old Brooklyn, he and his parents later built their own Broadview Heights home, together as a family, brick by brick. A year-round athlete, Stephen enjoyed all sports and some subjects. A graduate of Benjamin Franklin School, St. Ignatius High School (1957) and the University of Dayton (1963), he was eternally grateful for the education and formation he received.

In 1990, St. Ignatius honored him with the school’s most prestigious alumni honor. He attended the University of Dayton for two years, served in the National Guard, and subsequently returned to Dayton to complete a Bachelor of Science in Sociology. He exercised his keen sense of responsibility as a full-time student and hall director at Dayton, one job of many he pursued to help fund his education. Still he found some time for play.

Nursing student Francine Chambers captured his eye at a September 1957 mixer in St. Elizabeth Nursing School’s basement. Immediately, their dating life began. What started over two cups of coffee and a shared small fry at Frish’s, after many years of courtship blossomed into a marriage proposal on August 30, 1962.

Married at St. Patrick Church, West Park, Cleveland, Ohio, on November 16, 1963, they raised their five children in West Park, with many family memories created with their Woodbury neighbors and fellow St. Patrick West Park parishioners. As new generations of Tirpaks were born, they downsized in Westlake, where they welcomed their family of 19 for conversation around the kitchen table or larger family gatherings. One could always count on a listening ear, practical advice, straight talk, sports-watching or a conversation about economics and the stock market.

Impromptu gatherings on porches or decks or around the extended dining room table for the traditional Christmas Eve meal were often met with “Fran, look what we started.”
Helping to fulfill his in-laws’ purpose in founding Chambers Funeral Home in 1933 to honor the sanctity of both life and death, he faithfully and steadfastly served his family’s business as a licensed funeral director for 53 years, accompanying generations of Cleveland area families in honoring their beloved. Daily he and his family were reminded of the fleeting nature of this life and the promise of eternal life.

He passed away peacefully on March 12, 2020 with his wife and son, Stephen, by his side; his 81 years of life came full circle because he was anointed by a Byzantine Catholic priest from the same parish where he was baptized into Christian life. He is survived by Francine, his wife of 56 years, children Beth, Ellen and Tom Keating, Stephen and Mary Beth (McNally), Anne Marie, Michael and Megan (Brown); grandchildren: Maria, Clare, Mollie and Stephen J. Tirpak; Julia, Kathleen, Lauren and Brigid Keating; Riley, Reese and Charlie Tirpak, and grand-dog Briggs.

Mass of Christian Burial Tuesday, March 17, St. Ladislas Church (2345 Bassett Rd., Westlake, OH) at 10 A.M.  Interment Holy Cross Cemetery.  Our dear father and grandfather deserves a beautiful tribute. However, we appreciate in this unknown time with the COVID-19 pandemic that attending a visitation may not be in your best health interest. Please be with us in prayer.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Ignatius High School, 1911 W. 30th Street; Cleveland, OH 44113.
Obituary courtesy of www.chambersfuneral.com