Dr. Edward Malinowski, a resident of West Bloomfield, Michigan, died on December 12th, 2024 at the age of 85. Funeral services arranged by The Dorfman Chapel.

Location of Service:

The Dorfman Chapel- main chapel (map to our Chapel)

Date of Service:

Sunday December 15th, 2024

Time of Service:

12:00 Noon  

Interment at:

Adat Shalom Memorial Park Cemetery, 28500 6 Mile Rd, Livonia, Michigan

Officiant:

Cantor Neil Michaels  

Shiva Information:

The family will be sitting on Sunday, from 2:00PM until 7:00PM at the residence: 4377 Strathdale Ct. West Bloomfield MI 48323 Phone: (248) 752-4615.  
See our shiva mapping options

Charitable contributions:

The Zekelman Holocaust Memorial Center
28123 Orchard Lake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Phone: (248)553-2400  

Family Members:

Dr. Edward Malinowski of West Bloomfield, Michigan passed on December 12, 2024, at the age of 85.

Dr. Edward Malinowski was born in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1939, as Edward Mersyk to Marek and Stefania Mersyk.

Ed and his family were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. Ed’s father returned to their tiny apartment in the ghetto to find it empty, so he ran to the train station where Jews were being moved to extermination at Treblinka, and tried to rescue both his father and son, using loose diamonds secretly sewn in some clothes. His father managed to save Ed, but his grandfather was never seen again.

After the liquidation of the ghetto in May,1943, through luck and cunning, Edward, his mother, aunt and cousin survived in the outskirts and forests of Warsaw. After the war ended in 1945, Ed and other children helped rebuild Warsaw by hand, brick by brick. Since all documents were destroyed, the family name was changed to Malinowski, so that he and his mother could assimilate into Polish society and not be targeted as Jews.

Ed studied violin at the Music Conservatory and aspired to become a concert violinist but knew he would never be a world class musician, so he “disappointed” his family and decided to become a doctor. At the Warsaw School of Medicine, he methis future wife, Jolanta Okuniewicz , who would stay by his side for 62 years.

While they survived the Holocaust, they could not survive the Communist antisemitism. With young daughter, Susan, in tow, they were stripped of their citizenship, their few worldly possessions, and moved around Europe until the Jewish Allied Campaign sponsored them to come to Detroit.

Ed and Jolanta studied English to take and pass the medical boards, complete their residencies and, ultimately, Ed became a respected cardiologist and Jolanta a brilliant dermatologist.Ed spent many years working at Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit, saving many lives and training scores of physicians to do the same. Even after he retired, he was constantly on the phone offering advice on everything from medical treatments to 401(k)’s. A lifelong learner, his breadth of knowledge transcended medicine and music to history, geopolitics, cars, aerospace, and technology. He also returned to play the violin yet again with the Detroit Medical Orchestra.

Ed was resolute that the Holocaust be remembered and served on the Board of the Holocaust Center in Detroit. His countless lectures on his experiences, delivered a powerful message of hope, resilience and perseverance to thousands of students in the Detroit area. Ed’s greatest and enduring joy was his family. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Dr. Susan Malinowski (married to Gary Shapiro) and his two grandchildren, Mark Jerome Malinowski Shapiro and Max Mersyk Malinowski Shapiro.  

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