Pentwater Service Club Names Joe Primozich 2023 Citizen of The Year

Pentwater Service Club Names Joe Primozich 2023 Citizen of The Year

PENTWATER —The Pentwater Service Club announced that Joe Primozich has been named the 2023 Pentwater Citizen of the Year. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the community service award. 

“It will be a privilege to recognize Joe’s passionate work in ensuring the health of Pentwater Lake, as he is well deserving of this award, particularly in its 50th year,” said PSC Vice President Steve Russell.

As incoming president, Russell will preside over the Oct. 12 Pentwater Yacht Club dinner honoring Primozich for his expertise and dedication to maintaining Pentwater Lake, the community’s greatest asset, according to the most recent community-wide survey.

Primozich taught biology and ecology at Walkerville and Hart schools for 37 years before retiring with his wife, Judy, in Pentwater in 2005. “Pentwater is fortunate to have had so many dedicated volunteers over the last 50 years, all of whom have shaped this community we all call home,” said Gigi Mitchell, co-chair of the Citizen of the Year program for the PSC. “Joe Primozich won this award because the selection committee felt his interest, background and dedication to Pentwater Lake set him apart from other candidates in 2023.”

Primozich is a former president of the Pentwater Lake Association (PLA) and currently is chairperson of the Pentwater Lake Improvement Board. An avid fisherman, Primozich is well known at many levels for his devotion to keeping Pentwater Lake healthy and full of fish.

Mild-mannered by nature, Joe credits his mentors, Ron Steiner, Milt Pugsley, and Dave Roseman, MD, for getting him involved with the PLA. “When they learned of my background and interest in Pentwater Lake, Milt asked me, …’Where are the bluegills?’ Primozich said. “Pentwater Lake has become a growing part of a very satisfying chapter in my life since I first moved here.”

According to Primozich, harmful aquatic life can come in on boats and even waterfowl. Once here, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to completely eradicate them. Instead, the PLA alternates between mechanical harvesting and chemical treatments to control aquatic plants

like milfoil and starry stonewort. Most recently, the PLA oversaw the mechanical harvesting of more than 140 tons of starry stonewort, reducing the need for chemicals, which also kill natural habitat fish required for spawning. The goal in both methods is to reduce the formation of oxygen-depleting muck on the bottom of the lake.

Primozich and his wife, Judy, have six children and 11 grandchildren.

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