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Person

Edward Bruce "Ed" Wojan

Also Ed Wojan · Edward Wojan · Eddie Wojan · Edward Bruce Wojan · Ed Wogan

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Person
Active
fl. 1974
Work
Real-estate representative, Colwell and Company · Broker/owner, Ed Wojan Realty
Spouse
Constance "Connie" Wojan
Parents
Walter A. Wojan
Children
Caroline Christine Wojan
Siblings
Jeanne Marie Gillespie · Ronald "Ron" Wojan · Audrey Potter · Patricia "Patty" Wojan · Diane Terese Wojan · James L. Wojan
Member of
Beaver Island Civic Association
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
communitytourismgovernanceeducation
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

Edward Bruce “Ed” Wojan, son of Walter A. Wojan and Vera M. (McDonough) Wojan of St. James, is documented in the Beaver Beacon from a 1964 school essay award, through a 1976 island real-estate listing representing Colwell and Company, to his own brokerage, Ed Wojan Realty, advertising continuously from at least January 1982 to at least April 2011. He finished second in the January 27, 1974 Beaver Island cross-country snowmobile race.

History

Wojan won a Farm Bureau essay contest, “My American Heritage,” in 1964 and graduated from Beaver Island High School in 1965, after which he entered the University of Detroit. He served as a groomsman at his sister Jeanne Marie’s wedding in November 1967 and, in 1972, was named to the island’s seven-member zoning-study committee that drafted proposed land-use ordinances for Charlevoix County’s zoning program. On June 6, 1970, he married Constance Ann Adams of Kalamazoo at Holy Cross Church; the Beacon records his full name as Edward Bruce Wojan in the wedding notice. Their daughter, Caroline Christine, was born at the Beaver Island Medical Center on May 24, 1972.

Wojan placed second in the January 1974 snowmobile race, and later that year he and his wife pledged $4,000 of Ed’s state lottery winnings toward the construction of an emergency-aircraft hangar at the Beaver Island Townships Airport — reported as “Ed and Connie Wogan” in the Beacon’s December 1974 announcement and as “Ed and Connie Wojan” in its February 1975 completion report, the same donation spelled two ways three months apart. By August 1976 he was representing the real-estate firm Colwell and Company on the island.

By January 1982 Wojan had founded his own brokerage, Ed Wojan Realty, advertised in the Beacon as “Your Key to Beaver Island” and naming “Edward B. Wojan - Broker” – the earliest held record connecting the firm’s name to his own, and no source read here documents the exact date between 1976 and 1982 that he left Colwell and Company to found it. The firm did business directly with island township government: in June 1984, St. James Township Clerk Vivian Visscher recorded being in contact with both Ed Wojan Realty and a second firm, Ski & Shore, over financing the townships’ joint purchase of property at Iron Ore Bay, and quoted “Ed Wojan Realtor” setting the closing deadline; both realtors agreed to accept 50 percent at closing and an 11 percent land contract for the balance. The brokerage continued operating for decades: mid-1990s advertising names Kathy Speck alongside Wojan as a contact at the firm, and by 2000 a business-directory list in the Beacon placed “Ed Wojan Realty” among dozens of active island businesses. An April 2011 classified advertisement – the latest held record – still runs “Ed Wojan Realty … Your Key to Beaver Island,” and a separate 2011 listing names Michael Collins as a contact agent working under the Ed Wojan Realty name, evidence the firm had grown beyond a sole proprietorship by then. No source read here documents when, or whether, the brokerage closed.

Evidence and limits

This record consolidates several single-episode Wojan and Wogan notices into one probable biography on the strength of matching names, dates, family members and the fixed 1970 wedding record that gives his full name. No held source records a birth date. The 1982-2011 realty record is sampled rather than exhaustive: “Ed Wojan Realty” appears in well over a hundred held Beacon issues across those three decades, almost entirely as recurring classified advertising and incidental mentions in township minutes, and this article cites only the earliest and latest held instances plus one substantive township transaction rather than every appearance. Beacon advertising for “Wojan Construction” at St. James, which this article’s earlier draft also excluded, is treated in Walter A. Wojan as more likely his father’s firm; it is not attributed to Ed here. See Walter A. Wojan for the fuller discussion of the Beacon’s Wojan/Wogan spelling practice.

Open questions

  • When was Edward Bruce Wojan born?
  • When exactly did he leave Colwell and Company to found Ed Wojan Realty, and when, if ever, did the brokerage close?

See also

Kin

Vera M. Wojan1927 – 1980Walter A. WojanAudrey PotterDianeTerese Wojanb. 1958James L. WojanJeanne MarieGillespiePatricia"Patty" Wojanb. 1957Ronald"Ron" Wojanb. 1975This articleEdward Bruce"Ed" WojanConstance"Connie" Wojanb. c. 1976CarolineChristine Wojanb. 1972
Only relations stated in the sources are drawn; absence means unrecorded, not childless or unmarried.

Sources

  1. Lists Ed Wojan in second place in the January 27 race; it supplies no full biography or civil record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-02_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held eleven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1974-02_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Names Edward Wojan as one of the seven people elected to the island zoning-study committee; the matching name supports the Ed/Edward variant but does not establish a complete identity.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1972-02_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1972-02_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Names Ed and Connie Wojan as contributors of lottery winnings toward hangar materials. The printed name supports the Ed/Edward variant but does not establish a complete identity or equate the Wojan spelling with the separate Wogan episode records. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-02_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The scan confirms the Wojan spelling and contribution report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-02_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Names Ed Wojan of Beaver Island as representing Colwell and Company on the island. The notice supports the Ed/Edward name variant but does not provide a full identity or establish a brokerage contract. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  8. The held issue confirms the real-estate representation notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Names Edward Wojan, "son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wojan," winning a Farm Bureau essay contest on "My American Heritage."
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1964-06_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Names Edward Wojan, "son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wojan," among the 1965 graduating seniors.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1965-05_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Reports Edward Wojan beginning his freshman year at the University of Detroit.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1965-09_Beaver-Beacon
  12. Names "Edward Wojan, brother of the bride" as a groomsman at his sister Jeanne Marie Wojan's wedding.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1967-12_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Reports the June 6, 1970 marriage of "Edward Bruce Wojan of Detroit, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wojan of St. James," to Constance Ann Adams of Kalamazoo.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1970-06_Beaver-Beacon
  14. Reports the May 24, 1972 birth of a daughter, Caroline Christine, to "Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wojan," with Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wojan as grandparents.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1972-05_Beaver-Beacon
  15. "Ed and Connie Wogan very generously pledged $4,000.00 of their lottery winnings" to the emergency-aircraft hangar; the same donation is reported under the Wojan spelling in the February 1975 follow-up above.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-12_Beaver-Beacon
  16. Advertises "Ed Wojan Realty ... Your Key to Beaver Island," naming "Edward B. Wojan - Broker" -- the earliest held record of his own brokerage, succeeding the 1976 Colwell and Company representation. No source read here documents the exact date he founded it. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1982-01_Beaver-Beacon
  17. Records St. James Township Clerk Vivian Visscher in contact with "Ed Wojan Realty" and a second firm, Ski & Shore, over financing for the townships' joint purchase of property at Iron Ore Bay, and quotes "Ed Wojan Realtor" setting a closing deadline; both realtors agreed to 50 percent down with an 11 percent land contract for the balance. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1984-06_Beaver-Beacon
  18. Beaver Beacon, April 2011, classified advertising, "Ed Wojan Realty."
    Advertises "Ed Wojan Realty ... Your Key to Beaver Island" and, in a separate listing, names "Michael Collins / Ed Wojan Realty" as contact agent -- the latest held record, showing the brokerage still operating, with at least one other agent under its name, 29 years after the January 1982 advertisement. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2011-04_Beaver-Beacon
  19. Advertisement lists "Contact Ed Wojan or Kathy Speck" at Ed Wojan Realty, the earliest held record naming another agent at the firm alongside Wojan. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1995-06_Beaver-Beacon
  20. Lists "Ed Wojan Realty" among several dozen active Beaver Island businesses in a printed directory. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2000-06_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Edward Bruce "Ed" Wojan”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/edward-bruce-ed-wojan/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1974, “B. I. Snowmobile Race.” (and 19 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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