A beloved Northport resident and friend to many, David Chrobak, 83, passed away on December 8, but his undeniable legacy has left a positive imprint on those that knew him in Leelanau County.
Chrobak, a man of numerous artistic and creative talents, was the founder behind popular events like the annual Northport Dog Parade, a day of celebration that began 28 years ago for hundreds of dogs and their owners that has only continued to grow year after year.
Sarah Eggert, owner of the Pennington Collection on Mill Street, said Chrobak started the dog parade to draw people to Northport during sidewalk sales at the end of the summer in August. Although Eggert didn’t know Chrobak very well, as a nearby neighbor with a storefront on Mill Street, she remembers saying good morning to him everyday when he’d be out walking his dog, adding that he was always a good neighbor and kind man. She said Chrobak was excited about how creative people got with costumes and designs for their dogs and found joy in seeing these creations.
While the parade began as a lark for Chrobak, Eggert said more and more people got behind supporting it over the years, making it a treasured community event that has both endured and evolved.
“It (the parade) was about fun and bringing people to Northport and then it turned into something a little bit more for the dogs, and all that money that’s generated goes directly back into the dogs,” said Eggert, who has been helping to organize the parade since 2018. “I feel very good that we have been good custodians of his parade and his vision of ‘it’s for fun, it’s for a lark, it’s for honoring dogs’… He (David) was always walking a dog in town in Northport and he was a super creative man.”
Tom Ford, a close friend of Chrobak for nearly 40 years, also previously worked for him at the Old Mill Pond Inn in the 80s. Chrobak used to own and operate the bed and breakfast business, which also served as his residence, before moving to his last home in Northport off Mill Street. As the former owner of a florist business on St. Thomas island in the Carribean, Ford said Chrobak was also known for creating decorative arrangements at his businesses during the holidays and for various community events. Over the decades of knowing Chrobak, Ford said he was one of the kindest people he’s ever met, adding that he felt lucky to be present to help see him through things during his last weeks.
“David was a really hard worker, he loved to do projects… He was really civic and community minded,” Ford said. “I remember when he bought that house on Mill Street… he wanted to put a white picket fence up, but he didn’t go buy it, we had to get this one inch lumber and cut every picket by hand when we built that. We painted every one by hand, it was quite a project and stands out in my mind.”
Betsy Winters, another longtime friend who also worked for Chrobak when he operated his “Pot O’ Gold” shop out of his home, said they got to know each other mostly through the parties that he used to throw at Christmas and Easter time every year. She remembers how grand, thoughtful and detailed Chrobak’s home decor was, no matter what event it was for, never ceasing to amaze those that saw his artistic works.
Winters said Chrobak had a real eye for looking at something and finding another way to utilize it, part of his creative talent, which she observed frequently when working at his shop that sold second-hand items and “dead people stuff.” Chrobak was also a great cook and baker known for hosting parties for his friends on his front porch/patio, and Winters helped him a number of times with catering when he’d take on those projects.
“He never forgot people… and he was just accepted into the community,” Winters said. “He was a loyal friend.”
Mimi DiFrancesca Heberlein, co-owner of the Willowbrook Mill, was another friend of Chrobak and often collaborated with him on a number of Northport events/projects. Heberlein said since she cooks often at the Willowbrook, both her and Chrobak’s kitchens kind of became a back and forth neighbor routine where they would both make cakes and different recipes for the other to try. She spent a lot of time together sitting out on Chrobak’s front patio at his house, where there were always chandeliers and other decor hanging from the trees for people to admire. Neighbors and tourists passing by would often stop to say hi when they saw him sitting outside telling stories, too, a familiar scene that many knew and experienced with Chrobak.
Since Chrobak’s birthday was on June 30, Heberlein said she and other community members hope to put together a fun birthday party in honor of him in the summer.
“He was very eclectic… The art pieces he created were just so, so interesting,” Heberlein said. “If I asked him ‘are you interested in helping me with this thing (at Willowbrook), he’d come right over with brilliant ideas, surprising everybody all the time. He loved playing with decor, flowers — just fabulous.”
A neighbor and friend from just across the street, Wendy Slade, also fondly recalls the random acts of kindness and artistic talents of Chrobak. It was normal for Chrobak to share his homemade treats with his neighbors, with Slade adding that they would also exchange small plates of food with him daily. His unusual sense of humor, Slade explained, meant that Chrobak could come across as being very curmudgeonly at times, but also very sweet and attentive.
“He just really affected the lives of many people and he just loved his dog Josephine,” Slade said. “Sometimes he would stop if there were some flowers somewhere and he’d pick a flower and bring it to the neighbors from his walk. That was always fun, we’d find a little flower sitting on our porch on a little pot, it was something he picked for us… He was like the one person to know.”
