Selma Satonica

Selma Satonica, “the lady with the blue hat”, 88, of Berrien Springs, passed away on Sunday, July 1, 2018 at her residence after a lengthy illness sustained in a motor vehicle accident in 2011. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 2:00 PM, Saturday, July 7, 2018 at Chikaming Seventh- Day Adventist Church, 13083 Red Arrow Highway, Sawyer, MI with Pastor Darrel le Roux & Pastor Bill Dudgeon officiating. Burial will be held following the service at Graceland Cemetery in Bridgman. Friends may visit from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M., Friday, July 6, 2018 at Heritage Chapel, 8747 US 31, Berrien Springs. Memorials may be made to the family; in care of Rosie Wesolowski, to be donated to Selma’s favorite organizations. Those wishing to share a memory of Selma online may do so at www.heritage-chapel.com. Selma was born in Slobodarka, Poland, on June 4, 1930, to Ferdinand and Elida (Böehnke) Wutzke. Selma is a WWII survivor and has witnessed many of God’s miracles. She is a Seventh Day Adventist and believes her faith in God has delivered her an unending line of miracles. During WWII, in Germany, her family would make a big pot of soup and feed everyone. One day, Selma’s father sent her to the bakery to get buns for his Jewish worker and his starving family. When Selma returned, the Jewish worker took the buns and ran. A man in civilian clothing stood in her father’s shoe shop observing the incident; he said “Mr. Wutzke, for feeding the Jewish man you and your family could’ve ended up in a concentration camp. I am really a Nazi but I will wink at it this one time because you do a good job with my shoes.” This was the first of many times that God saved Selma and her family. Selma’s father was drafted into the German Army. One day, a German soldier that her family help to feed, came to the door and said “We are here to rescue you. You have one hour to pack your belongings and escape before the Russian Front will come and destroy this town.” The family eventually survived with the help of the angels to guide them on a long journey about 300 miles holding on outside in snow blizzard conditions to a train filled with thousands of people, many of them falling off,  until they got to Cottbus, Germany. They were eventually reunited with their father. God made it possible for the family to get a sponsor in Texas for which the local Seventh-Day Adventist Church needed a shoemaker, so Selma and her family migrated to Texas in 1953. Many years later, Selma’s family relocated to Bridgman where her father was a shoemaker for many years. In 1982, Selma married Daniel Satonica. They were married for nearly 31 years before his passing in 2013. Selma was in a horrific car accident in 2011 with her husband, Daniel. After 9 broken ribs, being placed on a ventilator, and having a tracheotomy, no one, including the doctors, thought she would survive. Miraculously, with lots of prayers and 8 months in the hospital, God saved Selma once again. She loved knitting shoes for everyone. Then she developed severe macular-degeneration and became legally blind with no central vision. Selma believed that she would never be able to knit again. After heartfelt prayers, a few years later a man brought over a magnifier that made the yarn look like a rope and magnified the yarn to 60 times its actual size helping her to make knitted shoes once again. Selma worked at Hyerdall’s Restaurant, what is now Roma’s Pizzeria, in Bridgman for over 30 years. After retiring, she began to help out George Klingspon on his farm picking asparagus and working the fruit stand. Selma enjoyed going to several local restaurants to visit with friends; such as, Joe’s Café, where owners Joe (Gabby), Edwardo, and Chilo Estrada were like her adopted sons; the staff at Sophia’s, specifically Billy and Patty; and Bob Evans, to see Tim. She would give a little bag of oranges and candy to everyone she talked to and was so kind and generous to everyone. She loved her doctors. Dr. Troy Thompson and family were a blessing to her. Playing music and praying for her when she would come in for office visits. Their mutual faith kept her alive for years. Dr. Russ Mead saved her life; he was on the scene of her car accident. With all of her broken bones it was tough for her to breathe but Dr. Mead kept her up and breathing until the paramedics arrived. God was always giving her miracles. Dr. Cooke, who performed a difficult cataract surgery for her and he also enjoyed her cream puffs that she would bring on her visits. Selma also liked Dr. Matt Reck and his staff, who made her not be afraid or anxious while having dental work done. At one point Dr. Reck drove to Watervliet Hospital to work on Selma’s teeth so she was able to eat regular food again after her car accident. She was so grateful for the many friends, family and church family she was blessed to have in her life. Selma is survived by her children, Rosie (David) Wesolowski and Adrian (Rita) Wutzke; sister, Isolde (Carmen) Trimarco); and adopted sons, Joe (Gabby), Edwardo and Chilo Estrada. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ferdinand and Elida; sister, Kunigunde Schultz; twin brother, Helmut Wutzke and brother, Willibald Wutzke. Selma was instantly loved by everyone she met. She was always happy telling her one liner jokes and showing off her yarn tricks. Selma had the opportunity to become a citizen early in life but due to difficulties in life and the confusion with the paperwork she decided to maintain her permanent resident card she received in 1953. A community center in South Bend, IN, Lacasa Amistad, provided her with encouragement to obtain her citizenship. In November of 2017, at the age of 87, Selma was finally able to say “I am proud to be an American Citizen”. In a blink of an eye, Jesus will raise Selma to be healthy and happy again.