Elli (Gorzkiewicz) Handy

Elli Handy (nee Gorzkiewicz) of Tecumseh, MI, 74 yrs old, died Tuesday November 3, 2020 at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI.  Mrs Elli Handy was born February 17, 1946 in Allendorf, Germany to Marie Wiessner (Fish).  On May 23, 1975 she married Bruce Handy. Tiny but mighty, strong yet gentle, with a boundless heart of gold, Elli was a woman of uncompromising ideals.  Never was her ceaseless strength, courage and optimism witnessed more greatly than in 2014, when she chose to receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to grace us with 6 more years of her beauty.  During this arduous journey, she endured much but never complained, and she did it all for the ones she loved.  She was deeply loved by all who knew her.  As a school bus driver in Tecumseh for 27 years, she was affectionately called “mom” by many of the youth riding her bus. She will be fondly remembered as a benevolent soul, who delighted in loving and serving others. Beloved wife of Bruce Handy, cherished daughter of Marie Fish (nee Wiessner) and Keith Spencer, devoted mother of two sons, Steven (Tricia) Penney, and Michael Penney, and two daughters, Tina (Dustin) Arter (nee Penney) and Dawn (Michael) D’Amico (nee Penney), all from her marriage to David Penney, as well as two stepchildren, Doug (Amy) Handy and Amy Handy, dear sister of Joan (Bruce) Howe, Linda (Desi) Pizana, and Liz (Nicole) Gordon, treasured grandmother of 14, David, Jackson and Trey Penney, Madison and Hunter Penney, Casey and Tayler Arter, Michael D’Amico, Travis, Kailyn and Gavin Parker, Skylar, Samantha and Hayden Handy, esteemed great grandmother to Elias Arter, loving aunt, cousin and friend to many. She was preceded in death by her older brother, Herb Gorzkiewicz, and an infant son, David Penney. Family and friends are invited to Elli’s memorial service, officiated by Reverend Eric Hickman, at J. Gilbert Purse Funeral Home at 210 W. Pottawatamie St. Tecumseh, MI 49286,  on Saturday, November 7, 2020, with visitation from 1:00-2:30 pm and a funeral service at 2:30 pm. The service will streamed on the funeral home's Facebook page. Her final resting place will be in the Brookside Cemetery Columbarium, Tecumseh, MI. In lieu of flowers, tribute gifts may be made to Henry Ford Health System, designated to the Heart and Vascular Institute Research Fund in memory of Elli Handy.

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