By Melissa Nann Burke, mburke@detroitnews.com
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin announced Sunday the death of her father, Curt Slotkin, following a two-year cancer battle.
Curt Slotkin, 81, of Bloomfield Hills, died on Jan. 20, and a funeral was held Friday, according to his obituary.
“He fought hard, but was ready to go, and we were with him at home when he passed away,” Slotkin wrote in a statement released Sunday.
Curt Slotkin was part of the family meat business started by the senator’s great-grandfather. Hygrade Foods created the iconic Ballpark Franks, first sold at Tiger Stadium.
Elissa Slotkin, a Holly Democrat, often spoke of her father on the campaign trail in telling the story of growing up in a Michigan household that was politically split with a Republican dad and her Democratic mother.
“There is no single person in my life who taught me more about integrity and decency than my dad. And no one who shaped me more as a person,” Slotkin said in her statement, referring to an article she wrote about him several years ago.
“In a complicated world, my dad had four, uncomplicated loves: Family. Friends. Farm. Food. And the absolute peak of his happiness was when his four of his loves were together at the same time: grilling a great piece of meat for his family and friends at the farm,” Slotkin wrote.
“One of the great lessons I take from his life is to find your 3 or 4 loves and focus on them consistently and intensely. Do that and your life will be well-lived.”
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