Gloria "Mitzi" Bellack

Gloria Milga Evelyn (Keranen) “Mitzi” Bellack, 97, of Medina, NY, passed away on Saturday, October 18, 2025 at her home.

Born, December 23, 1927, in Atlantic Mine, Michigan, to Arthur Godfried and Ida Alina (Kyllonen) Keranen, where she was raised on the family’s dairy farm, in Houghton County. Mitzi had six sisters and one brother. She graduated from John A. Doelle High School in Tapiola, Michigan, and then went to Houghton, Michigan to work at Gino’s Diner, where she met her husband, then a student at Michigan Tech, Jack Bellack. Jack and Mitzi were married on June 18, 1948, in Hancock, Michigan where they lived while Jack finished his engineering degree. Afterwards, they lived in many areas including Chillicothe, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. She raised her children in the Cleveland, Ohio area including East Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and North Olmsted. She took some college courses in history and psychology during that time and worked for the May Company Department Store. She and her husband retired to Denver, North Carolina for many years, before settling in Medina to be close to her son, Dean and his family in 2002. Mitzi enjoyed playing bridge, gardening, doing crafts, decorating, traveling the world (including Finland, Europe, China and many cruises), playing golf, skiing, bowling, cooking, sewing, flower arranging, reading and spending time with family. She was an enthusiastic volunteer with the Medina United Methodist Church, Medina Hospital’s Twigs, the Red Hat Society and Meals on Wheels.

She is survived by her sister, Bertha Karsama; daughter, Debora (Michael) Flaugher; son, Dean (Carol) Bellack; cherished grandmother of Shawn Flaugher, Joseph (Laura) Flaugher, Adam (Yana) Bellack and Aleena (Rob) Emerson; adored great-grandmother to Conor, Cullen and Ceiren Flaugher, Mila, Fiona and Anna Flaugher, Cameron and Lindsay Emerson, Olivia and Max Bellack; also many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Besides her parents, she was predeceased by her daughter, Andrea Cheri Kinney; siblings, Mildred Ravi, Helen Heikkinen Johnson, Ruth French Genke, Rudolf Kenanen, Lillian Karsama and Margaret Blom.

Her memorial service will be held on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1:00PM at the Grove United Methodist Church, 11004 W. Center St. Extension, Medina, NY 14103. She will be interred next to her husband in a small family ceremony in Elo, Michigan this summer. Arrangements are in the care of Cooper Funeral Home, 215 W. Center St., Medina.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Grove United Methodist Church (address above).