MARCH 14 • 2024 | 29
J
N

S

ometimes a mutual pas-
sion can bring couples 
together. In Patty and 
Steve Ceresnie’s case, it was music. 
Steve grew up in Detroit and 
Oak Park. He played clarinet in 
the high school band, “my best 
subject,
” he likes to say, and was a 
tenor sax player in a jazz band. 
 In 1967, when his buddy (and 
guitar player in the jazz band) 
Marc spent a week at a resort in 
South Haven, Michigan, the resort 
owner asked Marc if he could put 
together a band for the following 
year. Marc asked Steve to join, and 
he eagerly agreed. 
Meanwhile, Patty Grund grew 
up in Des Moines, Iowa, attended 
Drake University in Des Moines, 
moved to Los Angeles and pur-
sued acting and singing at the 
Pasadena Playhouse. Two years 
later, she moved to Chicago, hired 
an agent and began singing in 
nightclubs. One weekend, Patty’s 
agent recommended she go to 
Mendelson’s Resort in South 
Haven and perform daily with the 
house band. 
And it was at Mendelson’s, in 
South Haven, aka “the Catskills 
of the Midwest,
” that a certain 
woman from Des Moines first 
caught the eye of a certain man 
from Detroit. 
Steve thought he didn’t stand 

a chance. “There was this other 
guy — tall, blonde, a surfer dude, 
and I thought I’m just a little guy 
playing sax. If there’s anyone that 
pretty girl’s gonna like, it’s gonna 
be him,
” he said. 
“He wasn’t my type!” Patty 
exclaimed now. 
“I was mistaken … in a very 
good way!” Steve said happily. “I’m 
5’3” — that’s when I stretch! — 
and there aren’t many girls who 
are shorter than me. Patty was 
small and cute, she laughed at my 
jokes and, best of all, she liked me, 
too!” 
Patty said, “I’
d met a lot of dif-
ferent guys by then and Steve was 
like a light in the tunnel. He was 
different from the other men I’
d 
met. He was easy to talk to, caring, 
honest …
” 
“I’m still all those things!” 

laughed Steve. 
Even though Patty was 23 and 
Steve was 19, something clicked. 
The summer was a blast. The 
two played in the band together, 
had fun with the guests as social 
directors and enjoyed the resort’s 
gourmet menu. After the summer, 
Patty moved back to L.A. and 
Steve resumed his college educa-
tion at Wayne State, majoring in 
psychology. 
Then the ground shook — lit-
erally. After experiencing a major 
earthquake in 1971, Patty decided 
to relocate and move to Detroit, 
where her parents, Bobby and 
Lorene Grund, had settled. Steve 
and Patty immediately resumed 
their relationship. 
Steve’s parents, Sol and Sophie 
Ceresnie, adored Patty. As Sol 
said, “Finally, those music lessons 

paid off!” 
Steve started graduate school 
in psychology and Patty started 
singing with a local band that per-
formed at parties, weddings and 
bar mitzvahs. 
Steve didn’t have a lot of 
self-confidence, and his father 
eventually stepped in, recom-
mending he propose. 
“My dad told me, ‘Look, getting 
married is not like taking out a 
mortgage,
’” Steve said. “
And then 
years later, when I did take out my 
first mortgage, he told me, ‘Look, 
taking out a mortgage is not like 
getting married!’” 
In 1973, they married at Raleigh 
House on Telegraph Road in 
Southfield — and their wedding 
band consisted of many of Patty’s 
musician friends. 
The Ceresnies are blessed to 
have two daughters. Sharon and 
her husband, Dan Sorkin, live in 
Ann Arbor with their two chil-
dren, Mia, 10, and Charlie, 12. 
Barb lives in Los Angeles and is 
getting married in Detroit next 
month to Joey Cohen. 
Patty was the singer for The 
Patty Grant Orchestra and soon 
became the band leader when the 
original band leader retired. Her 
band played more than 80 jobs a 
year while Steve — now a psychol-
ogist — was her roadie. 
“I knew every single rabbi in 
town,
” laughed Steve. 
The couple live in Commerce 
and have belonged to Temple Shir 
Shalom since 1989. Back then, it 
was in an office building on Maple 
and Orchard Lake. 
Last year, the couple celebrated 
50 years of marriage. When asked 
for the secret to their long and 
happy marriage, Patty answered, 
“Music.
” 
“Definitely music …
” agreed 
Steve. “
And humor, but honestly 
a lot of it is just luck, too. Lots 
of luck. When I look back, the 
chances of our meeting seem 
infinitesimal … but we did. It’s all 
beshert!” 

 

This column will appear biweekly. If 

you’d like to share your ‘meet-cute’ story, 

please email burstynwithjoy@hotmail.com. 

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HOW WE MET

‘Those Music 
 Lessons Paid Off!’ 

Patty and 
Steve 
Ceresnie a 
few months 
after they 
married in 
1973

Recent Ceresnie 
family picture

