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DollyCali’s Dad
MM Michael Grlicky, USN

Raised as one of 7 children to immigrant farming parents from Czechoslovakia, Mike was born in Michigan & later relocated with his family to NE Ohio. Public Schools & technical training at East Tech in Cleveland helped him with skills that would be used in the military & in his early jobs following college graduation

He met wife Eleanor at Martin Luther Lutheran Church & they were married shortly before the US was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Mike joined his other 4 brothers in signing up when the nation was attacked. The other 4 joined Army but Mike loving the water, chose Navy

He used his mechanical skills learned at East Tech to become a Machinist Mate. He envisioned lots of travel on ships. But the curse of all naval guys was his.. SHORE DUTY. He was stationed in Pacific theater in Okinawa & This was a “boring” land assignment to dad as he was in charge of setting up & maintaining the water purification on the island for the troops. He didn’t speak much about his war time but did recall LONG days & nights on Okinawa playing cards with his shipmates.

Following the war he used the GI Bill to go to Chiropractic College (a new field) in Davenport Iowa. He trained under BJ Palmer - the father of Chiropractic. Those early years found students invited to BJ’s home & learning the skills from the Master.

Back in Ohio following graduation & further studies at Logan Basic in St. Louis presented a dilemma.. Begin a practice & have the financial drawbacks that went with it or use his mechanical skills in industry & make the comfortable living.

Mom’s 10 votes to dads one vote had Industry(money) over Chiropractic(drought). As fate would have it, years later he was in middle management and the company was overtaken by a mega-buyout & he was “downsized”…

The devastation of this job and income loss was huge. The silver lining is that he was able to NOW later in life, do what he wanted to do his WHOLE life & he began his chiropractic practice.

He died of heart failure at age 74 & at his funeral My brother & I were thrilled and touched by the number of patients who came through & told us how much he meant to them & how often he treated them if they couldn’t pay. And this was the norm, not the rarity. He felt it was his duty to help/cure the infirm.. not get rich off of them.

He was an active man his entire life. He bicycled, walked, golfed, and was an avid card player. He was very involved as a Mason with the Twinsburg Lodge & along with my Mom in Eastern Star. He became Worthy Master & attained the 32nd degree
He was a fun father & played with us and taught us much regarding life. My love & excitement regarding the outdoors I attribute to the hours we would tromp around the woods & have berry picking outings or go to a nice lake & swim & enjoy the sun & nature in general.

He was a devoted & involved father to both my brother and my self. As a teen I could NOT even get a temporary permit to drive until I could change the oil of the car, change a tire & learn to check fluids & FILL THEM, I attribute my math skills to the hours he spent with me playing cards. He was the faithful dad when I did my dance lessons over the years. Mom never drove & if I couldn’t get there via bus, Dad would drive. In Sunday school we had “memory ladders”. Dad spent hours each week for MANY years learning them all with me. He always learned them faster. He had a wonderful mind & great sense of humor. He would amuse my friends when we would go on family outings as he was the only dad in the water & did fancy dives & flips off the board. The other dads were drinking beer with their buddies (my dad caught up on that later in day however).

His two times of "not so happy with Dolly" came when at 16 I sneaked out with the car one evening & got in accident. The second is at my wedding I chose White tie/tails for the attire for the men. He said he felt like a penguin. (but he looked very handsome). He was very proud when I joined the Navy following college & proud also of my brother's decision to join the Air Force. He was a wonderful grandpa & in his later years loved his "pup" Pierre, a Pomeranian, that he called - PeePee Fox.

He served his country, his church and his family with devotion & honor. Each Memorial Day I proudly go & “decorate” his grave & thank God for men such as him who have been the backbone & examples of decency in our great country.

Lovely. ((Dolly))

Last Friday on our weekly grocery shopping trip, I noticed a gentleman wearing a "World War II Veteran" baseball cap.

I set aside my normal timid self and approached him to extend a word of "Thanks for serving our great country". I also noticed a globe and anchor gold pin attached to the hat, so the words that came out were, "Thank you for serving our great country, Marine."

I received a warm smile and thank you from him. Found out that he served on Iwo Jima among other south sea islands. He reflected that Iwo Jima was "Bad - real Bad!" but he was grateful for the Navy Corpsmen who were there as well.

I was wearing my USS PIEDMONT hat and told him it was a Destroyer Tender. He then shared about his times spent aboard Navy vessels and how great the Squids treated the Marines. Literally gave them the shirts off their backs when a change of clothes was needed and the mess cooks gave em whatever they wanted to eat.

I'll be looking for him at future shopping trips and will extend a greeting each time I see him along with any others who may cross my path.

Very nice post about you father Dolly, imagine you weren't able to get through that with dry eyes. Can tell you adored your father as I did mine.

Silly me, Dolly, it never registered with me that you are Navy. So, you followed in Dad's footsteps, and what a wonderful story of him that you told: memories to cherish forever. He sounds like a man who truly enjoyed serving others and enjoyed and loved his family to the max. I hope you know, although you lost him too soon for your taste, he gave you time of immense QUALITY.

He had a sweet smile too!!!

A wonderful tribute. As a fellow "vet" (but a few years his junior) I would have been proud to have known and respected him. He sounds like "my kind of guy." While I went to the ETO, I can attest his was a most important job in the Pacific even if he was bored; if you didn't have PURE WATER to drink...you DIED!