Irene Katsul

Irene (‘Reney’, ‘I’, ‘Trene’, ‘Chooch’, ‘Toots’) was born on October 5, 1946 to the late George and Loraine (Zukowski) Katsul. She was the second oldest of seven children. Irene graduated from West Catholic High School, Grand Rapids in 1964.

As a young woman, Irene got her call from God and joined the Little Sisters of the Poor in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the highlights of her time in the sisterhood was her fifteen minutes of fame on the cover of Time magazine, photographed waving to the Pope in New York. After some time, Irene realized life as a nun wasn’t for her, so she decided to kick the habit and picked up the phone, becoming an operator for Michigan Bell in Grand Rapids.

While working at Michigan Bell, she was befriended by fellow operator Karen Emanulason, an Ishpeming transplant to Grand Rapids. Irene finally decided to hang up the phone on her career as an operator after Karen took her blueberry picking out north. There, she found her thrill on Blueberry Hill – Ken Seablom, who would make up for the end of her operator career by giving her a different kind of ring. Irene answered this new call and married Ken, finding a home with him, as all her friends in town said, ‘way out’ in North Lake in 1979. There, she raised three children and a myriad of pets.

As the kids grew up, Irene started cleaning at the Butler Theatre. Her three kids tagged along and learned every nook and cranny, silver screen nuance, and organ sound of that place. She also cleaned the Peninsula Bank and Pen West, where her children caused plenty of mischief! Irene finally found her true and favorite calling at Touch of Finland, where she took immense pride in serving the customers and promoting the shop for just over thirty years, while still cleaning at Pen West.

After kicking the habit, hanging up the phone, and putting away her cleaning supplies, Irene finally hung up her Touch of Finland apron to spend time with her nine grandchildren, forming unique bonds with each of them. Alongside spending time with her grandchildren, Irene could always be caught watching the Green Bay Packers, episodes of Blue Bloods (she was a huge Tom Selleck fan), Matilda, or Angels in the Outfield. Irene always enjoyed listening to the King of Country, George Strait, or Alan Jackson when she wasn’t watching the tube.

Irene was a devout Roman Catholic and a member of Saint John the Evangelist Church in Ishpeming, where she served as a CCD teacher during her childrens’ youth. She loved talking about the family pie shop in Grand Rapids, as well as her Grandpa Zukowski’s ‘size 10’ wedding ring. Her Polish and Greek heritage, as well as a little Irish from her Grandma Heath, were always topics she loved to talk about and took great pride in.

She is preceded in death by her parents, sister Carla, nephew Neil, former husband Ken, and many aunts and uncles. Irene is survived by her three children, Tom (Sonya) Seablom of Ishpeming, MI; Karen (Nick) Vivian of Hutson, WI; and Emily (Brian) Kloack of Fitchburg, WI; nine grandchildren: Tommy John and Evynn Seablom; Grant, Koltan, and Landon ‘Squeaky’ Vivian; Catherine, Henry, Sam, and Charlie Kloack; siblings Tom, Gloria, Cheryl, Norman, and Cyndy; as well as a multitude of cousins, nieces, and nephews scattered across the Midwest, east coast, Florida, and Texas; her dear friends Karen Quayle, Judy Senske, Tammy O’Brien, Bryan LaChapell, and Deacon Mark Beukama; the Three Musketeers, the Blue Birds, her ‘Club’ girls, and the White Bear Lake family in Minnesota.

On Friday, December 5th, 2025 at 9am, a rosary will begin her celebration of life at Saint John the Evangelist Church in Ishpeming, MI. A visitation will follow, along with a Mass of Christian Burial at 11am. All are welcome to join the luncheon following at the K/D Hall at Saint John’s. Irene’s burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Grand Rapids, MI, where she will be interred next to her parents. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, who can be found at https://littlesistersofthepoor.org/support-us/, or to Catholic Charities at donate.catholiccharities.org.

Bjork and Zhulkie Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. A full obituary may also be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com, where relatives and friends are invited to share notes of remembrance.