Obituaries

Debra Lee (Harter) (Harris) Nelseon of Plainwell, Michigan, passed away Friday June 5, 2009, at Borgess Hospital with her family by her side. Debbie was born July 13, 1953, in Kalamazoo, the daughter of Leon Sr. and Donna (Newcomb) Harter. Debbie worked at Hinkle’s Bakery for many years until she moved to Indiana to work at Wabash International. She was...

Frank L. Van Gorder, Jr. ofAllegan, passed awayThursday, June 4, 2009inKalamazoo. Mr. Van Gorder was bornJuly 14, 1926, inBessemer,MIto Frank and Ellen (Hacksell) Van Gorder. For many years he was employed as a Tool and Die Maker retiring from Usher Tool & Die in Dutton. He was an Army Veteran of WW II, serving inBelgiumandGermany, where he took part in...

Raymond Henry Malvitz, DDS, of Otsego, Michigan, passed away Thursday, May 21, 2009 at Rose Arbor Hospice with his family at his side. Dr. Malvitz was born August 9, 1928 in Inkster, Michigan, son of the late Henry and Bertha (Pardieke) Malvitz. He graduated from Pharmacy School, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI in 1950. During the Korean War he...

Richard C. ‘Dick’ Hutchens ofOtsego passed awayWednesday, May 20, 2009at his home, surrounded by his family. Dick was born August 19, 1933 in Wabash, IN, the son of Rufus and Katheryne (Fisher) Hutchens. He was a Veteran of the Korean War, serving in the Marines. Dick attendedWesternMichiganUniversityand served 8 years with the Kalamazoo Fire Department. For 12 years he was...

Victor B. Sayles ofAllegan,MI passed awayThursday, May 14, 2009at his home. Mr. Sayles was bornAugust 26, 1952in Allegan, the son of Ralph and Leona (West) Sayles. Victor enjoyed bowling and working on cars. He is survived by his sisters and brothers, Donna, Peggy, Ralph, LeeRoy and James; and his girlfriend, Juanita. He was preceded in death by his parents and...

Elsa Nuyen-Strickland of Portage passed away Thursday, May 14, 2009 in Kalamazoo. Elsa was born October 2, 1923 in South Haven the daughter of William and Anna (Myner) Valkner. She had been employed at Beach Products for over 15 years and for Parker Hannifin in Richland for over 10 years and for Kal-equip for several years. She enjoyed motor home...

Debra Rae Daniels passed awaySunday, May 10, 2009. Debra was bornNovember 27, 1969inMarshfield,WIthe daughter of Donald and Rae Ann (Sauter) Schanz. She had moved with her family to Grayling, MI, where they lived for several years before moving back toWisconsin. She graduated fromMarshfieldColumbusHigh Schoolin 1987 and fromSt. CloudStateUniversityin 1991. Currently she was working on a Masters Degree atSpringArborCollege. For the...

Winnie Jo Stone of Alamo, formerly of Otsego, passed awaySunday, May 10, 2009, inAlamo. Mrs. Stone was bornJanuary 17, 1919, in Allegan to Otis and Mable (Beldon) Sprague. Surviving are a son and a daughter, Mark Stone of Plainwell and Bonnie Palumbo ofAlamo; three grandchildren, Matt Henry, Marci Henry and Roy Stone; six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by...

Tim Wolthuis, beloved father, grandfather, brother and friend went to be with his Lord suddenly Saturday eveningMay 9, 2009. Tim was bornApril 22, 1943inKalamazoo, the son of Henry and Trena (Zomer) Wolthuis. Tim was a cement finisher. He enjoyed flea marketing, auctions, woodworking and working on lawn mowers. Tim was a member ofOakGroveBibleChurch,Kalamazoo. He was preceded in death by his...

Theresa Anna Newman of Kalamazoo, Michigan, passed awayTuesday, April 28, 2009inKalamazoo. Mrs. Newman was bornJanuary 29, 1927inKalamazooto Henry and Anna (Gernaat) Helmens. After graduating fromKalamazooCentralHigh Schoolshe worked for Shell Oil Co. and then was employed with Bosma Painting Company (now H & H) for over 30 years. Theresa enjoyed fishing, especially bluegills or anything she could catch. She was an...

Shirley J. (Charles) Handley of Kalamazoo diedApril 26, 2009, inAlamo. Shirley was bornJanuary 4, 1924, in South Haven, a daughter of William and Myrtle (Wade) Charles. She enjoyed traveling, sewing, basket weaving and crafts. Shirley married Thomas V. Handley, Sr. who preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her sister, Virginia Morgan ofFloridaand her brother, Andrew...

Rocky Lane Whitaker (formerly of Plainwell) passed awaySunday, April 26, 2009, with his family at his side. Rocky was bornAugust 24, 1952inPlainwell,Michigan. He was proud of his strong work ethic and had vast knowledge in many disciplines. Rocky recently retired from North American Energy Services in Covert, MI, where he was an I,C & E Technician. Rocky loved animals, music,...

Elise G. (Koch) Dorothy of Otsego, Michigan, passed awayApril 24, 2009, after a long battle with diabetes. Elise was bornOctober 31, 1929inBremen,Germany. In October, 1949, she married Richard K. Dorothy and moved to theUnited States, settling initially inNewton,Iowa, where she became aU.S.citizen shortly thereafter; then moving later to Otsego. Elise and Richard were well known in the Otsego-Plainwell area as...

Donald E. “Don” Pountain of Allegan, Michigan, passed awayTuesday, April 21, 2009inKalamazoo. Mr. Pountain was bornDecember 18, 1927, inKalamazoo, to Gerald and Charlotte (Valentine) Pountain. After WWII Don served in the U.S. Army, stationed inJapan. For 41 years he was employed with MasterCraft Corp. inKalamazoo. He enjoyed cameras, radios and all kinds of gizmos. His favorite activities included fishing, bowling...

Carl R. Walters, Otsego, Michigan, passed awayMonday, April 20, 2009, at his home. Mr. Walters was bornJanuary 18, 1928, in Otsego to Frank andFlorence(Maatman) Walters and was a lifelong resident of the area. Carl was a 1945 graduate ofOtsegoHigh School. He was a US Army Veteran of WWII serving his country from 1946 to 1948. For many years he was...

Wilma J. Kreckman of Otsego, passed awaySaturday, April 18, 2009at Rose Arbor Hospice,Kalamazoowhere she had been lovingly cared for. Wilma was bornFebruary 19, 1936atBronson,MIto Oscar Daniel and Lucille (Wagner) Bartholomew. In 1954, she graduated fromKalamazooCentralHigh Schooland onOctober 18, 1954, she married John C. Kreckman. She worked as a bookkeeper for Kalamazoo Cycle Shop for John and Earl Bourn, from the...

JaniceRiley ofGrand Junction,MI passed awayFriday, April 10, 2009inKalamazoo. Janice was bornJuly 28, 1943inKalamazoo, the daughter of Donald and Eva (Carpenter) Churchill. She was employed at Kal-Equip for over 20 years. Janice enjoyed raising exotic birds, making jelly, leather crafts, painting, knitting, crocheting and barrel racing with her horses. OnJuly 23, 1988she married Leonard Riley who survives. Also surviving are children,...

RussellWalters ofAugusta(formerly of Otsego) passed awayWednesday, April 8, 2009, at theV.A.MedicalCenterinBattle Creek.Russ was born June 8, 1928 in Otsego, MI, the son of Henry and Tena (VanDerVeer) Wolters, Sr.He grew up in Otsego and graduated fromOtsegoHigh School. During the Korean War, Russell served his country in the United States Army from 1950 to 1952. Russ is survived by his 2...

Anna Mary Shattuck ofOtsego passed awayWednesday, March 25, 2009inKalamazoo. Mary was bornAugust 22, 1928inKalamazoo, the daughter of Benton and Ida (Gleason) Reid. For many years she was employed with Advance Meters and National Waterlift, now Parker, retiring in 1991. Mary enjoyed puzzles, word search, watching races and baseball. She raised American Eskimos and Yorkshire Terriers. Surviving are 2 sons and...

Dorothy I. (Wicks) (Lukins) Cooper of Plainwell, Michigan, passed awayWednesday, March 25, 2009, in Wayland. Mrs. Cooper was bornNovember 2, 1922in Bradley to August and Gertrude (Anderson) Kotrba. Dorothy was a member of the V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary, the Women of the Moose, and enjoyed trips to Sault St. Marie and mushrooming up north. She loved dancing, especially polkas. For many...