Obituaries

Glen A. Riggs passed away Thursday, November 7, 2013 at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.Glen was born January 8, 1979 in Kalamazoo to Thomas and Shirley (Briggs) Riggs. Glen had worked as a cook at the London Grill in Plainwell for many years and had worked at the Cooper Café for the last several years. Glen enjoyed cooking and...

Patricia C. Gabany of Plainwell, Michigan, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, April 11, 2014. Mrs. Gabany was born May 15, 1936 in Detroit to Joseph and Ann (Urbanick) Uzarski. She lived in Sterling Heights for many years, moving to Lake Doster in 2007.Patricia’s greatest joy in life was caring for her family. She was a true matriarch and enjoyed scheduling...

Mark Wheeler of Plainwell passed away Tuesday, April 8, 2014, at his home.Mark was born June 10, 1956 in Plainwell to Louis and Suzanne (Ughetti) Wheeler. A 1974 graduate of Plainwell High School, Mark worked for many years as a general contractor. He was a member of V.F.W. Post #3030. In his leisure time he enjoyed the outdoors, loved to...

Mary Catherine Laidlaw of Otsego passed away Monday, April 7, 2014, at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo. She was born December 21, 1948 in Otsego to Russell and Caroline (Kruss) Conway.Mary was a graduate of Otsego High School and KVCC. She had worked for Meijer, Pipp Hospital and as a crossing guard for Allegan Street School in Otsego. She enjoyed doing...

Words are just not enough to sum up the life of Kathie D. Lacey of Sturgis (formerly of Otsego). Born on June 9, 1957, she was a loving mother and grandmother, a giving wife, a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Sturgis, MI, a devoted Christian and a friend of all. She loved her family more than anything else...

Donna M. Carroll of Allegan, formerly of Otsego, passed away Sunday, March 30, 2014, at Briarwood Assisted Living in Allegan.She was born May 18, 1932 in Allegan, to Ivor and Ruth (Coppock) Coburn. Donna was a 1950 graduate of Allegan High School and for 19 years was a nurse’s aide at Alamo Nursing Home. In her leisure time she enjoyed...

Donald passed away Saturday, March 15, 2014 at his home.He was born November 17, 1940 in Plainwell to the late Bernard “Speed” and Hazel (Parker) Holmes. A lifelong resident to the area, “Donnie” graduated from Otsego High School in 1959. He served his country in the U.S. Navy and was a member of the V.F.W. Post #3030, the American Legion...

Thelma M. Keeler, age 91, of Plainwell, departed this life on March 16, 2014.She was born in Martin, MI on August 15, 1922 to Wayne and Ina (Henson) Rantz, the youngest of 5 children. She lived in Martin for several years before moving to Plainwell, where she graduated from Plainwell High School in 1941.She married Bob Keeler on August 31,...

Irene June Ciesielski of Plainwell, Michigan passed away Sunday, March 16, 2014 at Life Care Center of Plainwell. She was born June 3, 1928 in Kalamazoo, MI to Albert and Elizabeth (Vermulen) Nuyen. Irene graduated from Plainwell High School in 1947. In 1955 she was married to Floyd “Pete” Ciesielski and they enjoyed life together until Pete’s death in 1976....

Mrs. Reba E. Braswell of Plainwell, Michigan, passed away Tuesday, March 4, 2014 in Kalamazoo.Reba was born June 30, 1932 in Otsego, the daughter of James W. and Geneva M. (McClain) Clark. She was a 1950 graduate of Otsego High School and attended the Moody Bible Institute for 2½ years. Reba was a medical transcriptionist and worked several years at...

Judith Ann Howrigon-Peckens of Otsego, Michigan, passed away Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at Tendercare of Kalamazoo. She was born October 19, 1940 in Galien, MI to Gerald and Esther (Truhn) Noggle. For many years she had been employed as an LPN at Life Care Center of Plainwell. In her leisure time she especially enjoyed cooking and baking.Surviving are her husband,...

Robert C. Higgs, 91, of Plainwell died peacefully Wednesday night, March 5, 2014 at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo.Bob was born November 5, 1922, in Benton Harbor, the son of Edward W. “Ted” and Leona M. (Maynard) Higgs. He graduated from Plainwell High School in 1941 and married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Mary Walker, on May 9, 1943 in...

Stanley Willcutt of Martin passed away Monday, February 24, 2014 at Wings Home in Allegan, MI.Stanley was born June 26, 1938 to Carl and Doris (Boyer) Willcutt in Hastings, MI. He was a truck driver for a livestock transportation company for many years, he also worked in a factory for several years in Cincinnati before returning to the area. Stanley...

Edward Thar of Plainwell passed away Saturday, February 22, 2014 in Battle Creek.Mr. Thar was born September 1, 1936 in Benton Harbor to John and Enola Thar. Ed served his country in the Air Force and enjoyed fishing and hunting. On September 23, 1995 he married Sandra Lawson who survives.Also surviving are his children, Robin (Sherman) Brown of IN, Michael...

William H. Henderson age 88 formerly of Otsego passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2014 in El Paso, Texas.Mr. Henderson was born July 29, 1925 to Harvey and Lillian (Krueger) Henderson in Otsego. He was a graduate of Otsego High School and for over 30 years was a lineman for Consumers Power until his retirement in 1980. He served his country...

Gilda ‘Jill’ Campbell age 91 of Otsego passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at her home.Mrs. Campbell was born July 21, 1922 in Philadelphia, PA to Joseph and Antoinette (Christiand) Berardi. Jill metFred Campbellwhen her brother Tony brought him home on a two day leave and they were married April 24, 1946.Jill worked at the Nulty Insurance Agency for 25...

Colleen L. Thaxton (nee Severy), of Otsego, Michigan, passed away Wednesday morning, February 19, 2014, at her home in Otsego with her husband of 65 years, Ronald L. Thaxton, at her side.Colleen, only child of Luther and Ada Severy, was born on November 14th, 1929 and lived her entire life in Otsego. She married Ronald, her High School sweetheart and...

Bonita C. Knight passed away Saturday, February 15, 2014, at her home in Kalamazoo.Mrs. Knight was born February 4, 1926 in Fort Wayne, Indiana the daughter of Chauncey and Ruby (Dinius) Tucker. She was an accomplished artist and pianist, but above all she was devoted to the Lord.On February 28, 1947 in Bluffton, Indiana she married Blain Knight who died...

Darrel J. Allen age 75 of Otsego, got his promotion to glory on Sunday, February 16, 2014, at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. Darrel was born July 25, 1938 in Marenisco, MI to Clarence and Grace (Cox) Allen and had been a lifelong resident of this area.He was employed as a DNR officer with the State of Michigan for 30...

Betty L. Tishhouse of Otsego, Michigan, passed away unexpectedly Sunday, February 16, 2014, at her home. Mrs. Tishhouse was born April 8, 1931 in Otsego to Irwin and Cecil (Sims) Hill and had been a lifelong resident of the area.For many years she had been employed as an aide with Otsego Public Schools, retiring in 1996. Betty loved her children,...