A family friend confirmed to DailyMail.com that the victim was Edna Mae Kujawski, 80, noting that she hopes her husband, Gordon Kujawski, 82, is “not self-destructive” over her death. Authorities say that around 10 p.m. on July 5, Gordon was backing his 2021 Ford Explorer out of a parking lot at Our Lady Consolata Church in Gagetown and struck Edna, a retired teacher who later died from her injuries. Witnesses said Edna carried a bag of trash into a container in the lot as her husband left the parking lot after they spent the night volunteering at a food pantry. Michigan troopers do not believe drugs or alcohol were factors in the woman’s death, and the husband has not been arrested in her death. Once the investigation is complete, authorities will send a report to the Tuscola County Prosecutor’s Office for review, according to Michigan Live. An online obituary for Edna said she was a devout Catholic and retired teacher who was well-respected in her local community and who had once taught children in Ghana.
Edna Mae Kujawski, 80, of Cass City, died on July 5 when her husband ran her over as she pulled out of a parking lot at Our Lady Consolata Parish Church in Gagetown, Michigan. She and her husband, Gordon Kujawski (pictured in 2012), were volunteering at the food pantry that day. He is said to have been very supportive of her volunteer work Edna was born May 11, 1942 to Steve and Katheryn Karpovich and married Gordon Kujwski at St Priscilla Catholic Church in Livonia on May 9, 1987, according to an online obituary. She received a bachelor’s degree in education from Madonna College and went on to earn a master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University, using her experience to teach in Ghana. “I was called to do some missionary work,” he said in a video from 2012.
She then set up a program at St Agatha’s Catholic Church, sewing sundresses for dressless girls around the world with a group of about a dozen other women who would meet at the church after 8.30am. the Liturgy on Tuesday. Missionaries would approach the women with the number of dresses they needed, and the women would come to work making dresses for girls in countries such as Honduras, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Haiti and Mexico, according to Tuscola Today. The group would also go to the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland to teach male inmates to knit gloves, beanies, hats and scarves that they could donate. “It’s very rewarding for us,” Edna told Tuscola Today in 2016. “We’ve got the talent and we’re offering it to God. And no matter how small it is, this is the best we can offer.” In addition, Edna was the stocking coordinator at the St. Agatha food pantry, where Nicholas Hax told DailyMail.com she would carry the larger boxes. He said he started volunteering at the food pantry as an atheist and began sharing with Edna and another woman, Regina Salcido, his questions about faith “that I thought were unanswerable, I thought I was smarter than that. “But they were able to answer and sway me every time we worked, until finally I began voluntarily to read a book about saints.” By 2019, Hux was baptized, which he credits to the teachings of Edna and Regina. For all her philanthropic work, Edna received the 2012 Bishop Murphy Award from the Diocese of Saginaw, and a video about her work showed Gordon supporting her philanthropy every step of the way. “Edna has the ability to inspire others to participate and discover, as she did, the great joy of serving those in need,” Bishop Joseph R. Seastone said at the time. Edna, left, formed a sewing group at St. Agatha Catholic Church, working with a dozen women to sew sundresses for girls in need around the world For her work in the church, Edna received the 2012 Bishop Murphy Award from the Diocese of Saginaw (pictured) In her spare time, Edna was an avid gardener who retired at the age of 55 to spend more time tending to her flowers. Edna is now remembered for her philanthropic work and spirit, with Hux saying he believes that had the tragic crash not happened, “Edna would have easily reached 100-plus. “She was very healthy, very strong and also had the strongest faith,” Hux told DailyMail.com, noting that she often carried the largest boxes in the pantry and when she was down on her luck, drove 30 miles. herself and walked a box of food and baby formula for his son up to their second floor apartment. “One trip, lots of food to help us, and no complaints,” Hux recalls. Edna is survived by Gordon. four stepsons, Kevin of Livonia, Greg and wife Justine, Matthew and David Kujawski all of Arizona; seven grandchildren and nephew, David Karpovich and wife Holly of Cass City; She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Stephen Karpovich. A mass will be celebrated for her at Our Lady Consolata Parish in Gagetown on July 14.