Kings Landing owner Joe Piechura will be missedA genial host
By Phil Foley
Staff Writer
DEERFIELD TWP. -- Less than 12 hours after returning home from the hospital, Joseph A. Piechura, 88, passed away in view of the lake where he'd spent nearly the last four decades, with his family nearby.
Piechura and his wife, Peggy, and two other couples bought Kings Landing Kampground on Miller Lake in 1972 and over the next 37 years the Piechuras became a summertime fixture in Deerfield Townsip. As recently as June Piechura could be found in the store still selling penny candy to kids or making cotton candy.
"My parents were social people," said their son, Craig.
"My dad was big and loud, quick with a smile and a teasing joke," he added. "He loved his family and he loved life. When we were kids we'd invite friends into the home where we grew up in Warren, and they'd be surprised to see him singing a song -- and screwing up the words in the process. He was the kind of guy who'd give you the shirt off his back. But don't cross him. He was no pushover."
The son of Polish immigrants, Piechura moved to Detroit from Pennsylvania, with his mother, Cecilia, and his four sibilings following the death of his father, Michael.
At 18, the year before the U.S. entered World War II, Joe went to work the assembly line at Chrysler's Warren Truck Assembly. Like most of his generation, the war interrupted his life, and he served in the Army as an anti-aircraft gun mechanic. He rose to the rank of sergeant and fought his way to Germany by war's end.
After the war, Piechura returned to the assembly line and worked his way up to become a superintendent in management at the plant before retiring in 1979. Craig said his father was a hard working man, who at one point held a second job as a mechanic at a car dealership in addition to his day job at the Dodge plant.
Along the way Piechura and his wife raised five children Paul, of Farmington, Craig (Louise) Piechura of Milford, Rick (Kelly) Piechura of Clarkston and Kathy (Jay) Piechura-Couture of Deland, Fla., in their Warren home.
Camping enthusiasts, Joe and Peggy became partners in the campground at Miller Lake in 1972 with Ed and Jane Clark and Al and Betty Ross, before becoming sole owners of the park. Craig noted that owning a campground isn't for everyone, and eventually the Clarks and Rosses lost interest and sold out to his parents.
For years, said the younger Piechura, his parents spent their summers at Kings Landing Kampground in a small trailer, with his father coming up from Warren on the weekends until he retired. They eventually put in a double-wide overlooking the lake, and after Joe retired, like many of their contemporaries, the Piechuras spent their winters in Florida.
Craig said his father a became well-known, well-liked, figure in the community north of Lapeer due to the popularity of his lakefront campground, picnic grounds and store. He recalled the park held annual events such as Fourth of July fireworks displays and pig roasts, corn roasts and Halloween celebrations.
Some campers are third-generation regulars at the park. "Mom and dad watched people grow up, have kids of their own and bring them back to the campgrounds," said Craig. He noted that his father, through the campground, touched the lives of literally thousands of people in Lapeer and Southeast Michigan.
Two years ago, realizing that the workload, like their ages, was rising, the Piechuras brought in Columbiaville residents Fred and Helen Monreal as partners in the campground business. Craig said his mother, at 85, plans to continue on at the campground.
About six weeks ago, said Craig, complications from diabetes and a heart condition took his father from his beloved campground. Tuesday his family brought him back to Kings Landing from the hospital for home hospice care, and before dawn Wednesday he passed away.
Along with his children, Piechura is survived by six grandchildren: Katy, Lance and Jody Piechura; Cecilia Lazar; and Alex and Kendall Couture as well as two older sisters, Helen Vanacek of Attica, and Adele Bobiney of Rochester Hills.
JA funeral mass was planned for Saturday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lapeer, followed by burial in Flint. His son noted that one of his father's friends placed a vial of beach sand from the campground in his father's casket.
"He was a tough old guy," said Craig, "but he was a real sweetheart."
