Obituaries

Richard S. Smith of Otsego, Michigan, diedMonday, January 8, 2007inGrand Rapids. Mr. Smith was bornJuly 15, 1918inWatsonTownshipto Richard and Vinia Smith and was a lifelong resident of the area. Richard served his country in the U.S. Army during WWII. For many years he was employed with Dermatalic Flowserve as a press operator. Richard was a member of the Otsego V.F.W....

Randy D. ‘Ranch’ Ray of Otsego, Michigan, passed awaySaturday, January 6, 2007inKalamazoo. Randy was bornOctober 29, 1956in Plainwell, to Darryl and Marian (Hummel) Ray.In 1974 he graduated fromOtsegoHigh School. His favorite activities were hunting, fishing and camping. Surviving are his mother, Marian Ray of Otsego; two brothers and a sister, Rick (Brenda) Ray and Marilyn Mowry, both of Otsego and...

Paul S. Young, formerly of Otsego, Michigan, passed awaySaturday, December 30, 2006inKalamazoo. Mr.Young was bornFebruary 14, 1915inOtsegoTownshipto F. Leon and Rose (Nice) Young and was a lifelong resident of the area. Paul served his country in WW II and was member of VFW Post #3030 and the American Legion Post #225. He had worked for Allen Electric, Nellis Automotive, North...

Carolyne E. Lawrence of Portage (formerly of Otsego) passed awayThursday, December 28, 2006atBorgess-PippHospitalin Plainwell. Carolyne was bornJuly 22, 1923, in Whiting,Indianato William and Mary (Kortokrax) Holmes. For many years she was employed with Senior Citizens Services. Carolyne had been a member of St. Margaret’sChurchofOtsegofor many years and later St. Monica’sChurchofKalamazoo. She was a wonderful cook, enjoyed music, loved watching ice...

Beulah E. Darsey of Newaygo (formerly of Otsego) passed awayThursday, December 21, 2006in Plainwell. Mrs. Darsey was bornJuly 10, 1915in Otsego to Claude and Isabel (Henderson) McNett and was a long time resident of Otsego. For many years she was employed as office manager with the D. B. Nisbet Agency in Otsego. Surviving are her granddaughter, Angela (Jarrod) Chestnut, three...

Collins G. Smith of Otsego, Michigan, passed awayWednesday, December 20, 2006inAlamo. Mr. Smith was bornJune 20, 1916in Otsego to Robert and Mary (Gray) Smith and was a lifelong resident of the area. In 1934 he graduated fromOtsegoHigh Schooland then served with the CCCs. For over 25 years he was employed as a steam fitter for theKalamazooRegionalPsychiatric Hospitalretiring in 1978. His...

Thomas ‘Tom’ Reynolds of Plainwell, Michigan, passed awaySunday, December 17, 2006, at his home. Tom was bornOctober 5, 1943inKalamazooto John and Emma (Blank) Reynolds. In 1961 he graduated fromOtsegoHigh Schooland served in the U.S. Navy. From 1975 until his retirement in 2006 he was employed with E & B Machine. Surviving are a brother, Charles (Linda) Reynolds of Allegan; a...

Kenneth J. McLaughlin of Otsego, Michigan, passed awaySunday, December 17, 2006at his home. Mr. McLaughlin was bornJune 8, 1924in Watson Twp. to Robert and Therese (Connors) McLaughlin He served his country in the U.S. Army as a Lt. in the Pacific Theatre during WW II and had worked at Eaton Corp (Fullers) for 37 ½ years. Ken was a member...

Louise D. Cutler of Bloomingdale, Michigan, passed awayThursday, December 14, 2006, inKalamazoo. Mrs. Cutler was bornJune 25, 1928in Bloomingdale to Julius and Louisa (Schmitt) Dockweiler. Louise was employed as a production foreman at Kal-Equip Co. in Otsego for many years. Later she was a salesperson for Century 21 Real Estate before retiring to a home onEagleLakewith her husband. She and...

Merwyn D. Krusinga of Kalamazoo, Michigan, passed awayThursday, December 14, 2006at his home. Mr. Krusinga was bornMarch 2, 1930inKalamazooto Roy and Mary (Morren) Krusinga and was a lifelong resident of the area. He served his country in the U.S. Army 193rdTank Brigade during the Korean War. Since 1960 he had owned and operated Krusinga Plumbing inKalamazoo. Merwyn was a member...

Bertha L. Perricone of Otsego, Michigan, passed awayWednesday, December 13, 2006in Plainwell. Mrs. Perricone was bornDecember 13, 1920inKalamazooto David and Henrietta (Moerman) Verdries. Bertha was a member of St. Margaret’s Catholic Church of Otsego. For several years she was employed as a tailor for Redwood and Ross. After retiring she worked at home doing alterations and sewing. For her family...

Eileen H Wilkins of St. Johns (formerly of Otsego) passed awayTuesday, December 12, 2006inCharlotte. Eileen was bornOctober 22, 1944inWayne,MIto Clair and Ethel (Elder) Wilkins. She lived most of her life in Otsego and was an O.H.S. graduate. She attendedDavenportCollege, graduated from Michigan State Technical Institute and earned her CPA. For many years she was employed at L. Perrigo Co. and...

Loretta Highsmith of Otsego, Michigan, passed awayTuesday, December 12, 2006inKalamazoo. Loretta was bornSeptember 15, 1917inClinton,INto Ross and Lucille (Mesick) Summers. She worked at the Hi-Lo Restaurant inKalamazoofor 18 years and enjoyed playing cards, crocheting, canning, traveling and being with family & friends. Loretta loved living at Baraga Manor; she had been a member of ABWA and had attendedTrowbridgeUnitedMethodistChurch. Surviving are...

Arthur J. Popp of Otsego (formerly of Plainwell)Passed awayMonday, December 11, 2006at his home. Mr. Popp was bornJune 18, 1915inLake Leelanau,MIto Joseph and Anna (Barry) Popp and had been a resident of the Otsego and Plainwell area since 1951. Art was a letter carrier for the Kalamazoo Post Office for 19 years and had also farmed. He received his Bachelor...

Janis A. ‘Jan’ Wisnaski of Otsego, MI, passed awaySaturday, December 9, 2006atBronsonMethodistHospitalinKalamazoo. Jan was bornFebruary 15, 1928inWiltonWI, the daughter of Robert and Louise Kern. In May of 1950, she married Richard Wisnaski and then they started their lives together in Michigan. She was employed for 27 years at Kal-Equip in Otsego and she also worked at K-Mart. Her whole life...

William P. ‘Bill’ Gregory of Otsego passed awayTuesday, December 5, 2006at his home.Bill was bornSeptember 11, 1967in Plainwell, the son of Donald and Wilma (Wollenhaupt) Gregory. He was very handy, was a great builder and operated Bill Gregory Construction for many years. Bill enjoyed hunting, fishing, golfing and watching sports.He loved his nieces and nephews and enjoyed babysitting them. Surviving...

Wayne E. Meade of Delton died Monday, November 27, 2006. Wayne was born August 5, 1949 in Allegan, the son of Eugene and Joyce (Brown) Meade. For over 23 years, he was employed with the Stryker Corporation. Wayne loved to attend auctions, visit the casino and sell at flea markets. He was preceded in death by his wife Grace (Weilinga)...

Rose Mary (Augustine) Hockett of Otsego passed away Monday, November 27, 2006 in Allegan. Rosemary was born January 2, 1925 to Tom and Sophia (Shagonabe) Peters. She was raised by her aunt and uncle, Jesse and Martha Scofield. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Otsego where she was a Sunday school teacher, Secretary/Treasurer of her True...

Margaret Rogers of Otsego, passed away Sunday, November 26, 2006 in Plainwell, the last surviving sibling of her family. Margaret was born February 16, 1913 in Kalamazoo to James and Cecilia (Hayden) Johnson. She graduated from Kalamazoo Central in 1929 and attended Western Teachers Normal School. Margaret was a member of Eastern Star #169, Queen Esther, the First Congregational Church...

Julia Lee Vagasky of Alamo Twp., MI passed away Friday, November 24, 2006 in Kalamazoo. Mrs. Vagasky was born February 24, 1917 in Mount Victory, OH to Paul and Gay (McKim) Friedly. Julia Lee was very active in the Methodist Church. She was an animal lover and especially loved her family. Julia Lee was everyone’s friend and all who met...