James Anthony Dunbeck, Sr. passed away on December 9, 2017 at the age of 80 years old.

Beloved husband of the late Joanne.

Loving father of James Anthony Dunbeck, Jr., Andrienne (Bob) Loree, Devin (Bernadette) Dunbeck, and Melanie Dunbeck.

Proud grandfather of 11: Andrew, Hannah, David, Danny, Jessica, Trey (Jamie), Max, Joey (Andrienne), Alyssa, Lauren, and Dustin (Devin); and great grandfather of 3: Caleb, Adeline, and Annabeth (Andrew).

Jim's passion was writing and reading. He wanted to be a journalist and although he didn't complete his degree in that field, he was a lifelong writer. His most significant work was his memoir of the experience of grief the year after the loss of his wife, Joanne, and the memories of her life and their together.

Joanne was his true love. Through better and worse, they stayed connected in such a way that you could see the kindred connection and love.

Jim overcame alcoholism and achieved 30 years of sobriety. This lead to his commitment to social and religious contributions to support his healing and helping others. He was the President of his church parish council, participated in retreats and achieved being a minister in the Stephen Ministry organization. He used this to provide counseling and deliver the Eucharistic to those in need at hospitals. He was also a member of the Christian Life Community (CLC) and worked for Meals on Wheels to delivery dinners to seniors.

Jim was proud of his Polish heritage. He spent many years researching genealogy with trips to Salt Lake City, West Virginia and Washington DC to learn more about his ancestors. He was one of the lead organizers of the St. Patrick's Church Polish Food booth at the yearly fall church festival for about 10 years. Jim was very proud to organize and participate in the preparing the food and running the sales booth.

Jim had struggles and endured with a positive and caring attitude to persevere through life. He had a witty sense of humor that gave laughter to others. He had a caring heart and focused work to give back to the community. He was an insightful and wise man. Even through his dementia, he was still a thinker and had an intuitive awareness of life and people.

He had suffered from dementia for several years but was able to live independently to almost the end. Over the past 3 months, his health issues became more acute and severe. Jim had a strong faith in God and is now in his next step in his life's journey. If you are in the Detroit area, following is information on visitation. All are welcomed to celebrate and honor his life with his family – James Jr (Jamie), Andrienne (Andi), Devin and Melanie.

Visitation will be held from 2:00PM to 8:00PM on Friday, December 15, 2017 at the Dearborn Chapel of the Howe-Peterson Funeral Homes, 22546 Michigan Ave .

Funeral mass will take place on Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 11:00AM (instate 10:30AM) at Sacred Heart Catholic Church located at 22430 Michigan Ave . in Dearborn.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association .