Kenneth John Ganobsik, 84, Loved the Great Outdoors

A private funeral mass will be observed Wednesday in St. Vincent DePaul Church, 41295 North Ridge Rd. Elyria, Ohio 44035, Reverend Father John C. Retar, pastor, will officiate. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery. A memorial service will be held later when family and friends can gather to celebrate his life.

That life included a youth spent in Lorain during WWII, where he was born on July 23, 1935. He graduated from Lorain High School in 1953, and began his early career with a stint as a bicycle courier in the Flats in Cleveland, Ohio, where he got to know the people along the waterfront. He had a way with words, and often charmed those he met along his path.

Kenny, as he was known to his family and friends, was married on December 27, 1969 to Lois Hartman. He spent 30 years as a postal carrier on a walking route in South Lorain, where he befriended and joked around with countless customers and fellow “characters” who provided service to the public. He was a member of the Marine Corps Reserves, often recalling with his trademark humor the wins and losses he racked up during a hot summer of basic training on Paris Island, South Carolina. His main hobbies centered around the great outdoors, and he was an avid bicyclist, hiking enthusiast, golfer, and self-appointed amateur ambassador for the Rails to Trails Program, communicating the need to create more pathways for people to walk or bike as their main mode of transportation.

He was also a volunteer Eucharistic minister at area hospitals and nursing centers, and a great lover of the written word, especially of off-the-wall, philosophical, and human interest stories in newspapers and magazines that he’d enthusiastically pass on to family and friends. His other love was parks of all kinds, and he made several trips to America’s National Parks throughout his life, including Zion, Smokey Mountain, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon.

His children remember his enthusiasm for taking on fun or quirky efforts, such as building a snow-packed, serpentine sled run and igloo after the blizzard of 1978, teaching them about new words via a spur-of-the moment Christmas tree game, and trying to train the family dog to ring a bell to gain entrance into the home.

Kenneth is survived by his wife Lois, his three daughters Alyssa, Kendra, and Kirstie, his seven grandchildren, Emma, John Matthew, Dominic, Gabriel, Sophia, Olivia (Livie), and Genevieve (Evie), brother Norbert, and his many nieces and nephews.

Kenneth is preceded in death by his parents, Margaret (nee Stolarik) and Joseph Ganobsik, his sister Loretta Sandrew, and his brother-in-law George Sandrew.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to either the Rails to Trails Conservancy (which is adding more walking and biking paths for people in this time of COVID-19) or to St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church for Mass intentions.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel. To share your memories and condolences with Kenny’s family, please visit www.gluvna.net.