Michael Tradowsky

Memorial services for Dr. Michael Tradowsky, 89, of Kirtland, are at 3 PM on Saturday, January 18, 2025, at Willoughby Hills United Methodist Church, 34201 Eddy Road, Willoughby Hills. His family will receive his friends at the church from 1 to 3 PM on Saturday before the service.

Michael passed away at his home on January 8, 2025. He was born on August 22, 1935, in Berlin, Germany. He earned a Doctorate in Dentistry from the University of Erlangen in Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1958 and earned a second Doctorate in Dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1967, he married Laura (Skeggs) and moved to her family horse farm in Kirtland, Ohio. He taught at Case Western Reserve School of Dentistry for twenty years, then pursued his love of sculpture, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Cleveland Institute of Art. His bronze sculptures include a statue of young Thomas Edison and his mother in Milan, Ohio, the Kirtland Veterans’ Memorial, The Risen Christ at Willoughby Hills United Methodist Church and many others.

Michael adored his wife, children, and grandchildren. They spent summers backpacking in the mountains or at the family fishing camp in Ontario. A talented storyteller, he wrote and published a memoir, War Children, about his childhood in Germany during World War II.

Michael lived as a man of faith and a member of the United Methodist Church, where he took youth on missions to help repair homes and taught children to make wooden toys at Royal Family Kids Camp. He loved music, played the guitar and piano, and sang in the choir. He was a disciple of the Bible and believed Christ is, “The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Laura J. (Skeggs) Tradowsky; children, Kim Porter, Christopher (Ross Elfline) Tradowsky, Annamaria Wolfe, Kirsten (Domenique Zuber) Tradowsky, and Peter (Hannah) Tradowsky; grandchildren, Ariel (Mark) Maltese, Anthony (Cortney) Porter, Sophia Tradowsky, and Desmond Leo Tradowsky Zuber; great-grandchildren, Graycen, Sylas, and Cecilia; sister, Monika Nimeh; brother-in-law, David (Cynthia) Skeggs; and sister-in-law, Jodi (Loren) Naji.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Annemarie (Wentscher) Tradowsky; parents-in-law, Leonard and Jean Skeggs; and son-in-law, Anthony Wayne Porter.

In place of flowers, Michael’s family requests contributions to Willoughby Hills United Methodist Church or For the Children (Royal Family Kids) through Willoughby Hills UMC.