Gladys Louisa Schwenk, age 98, of Sturgis, Mich., passed away June 29, 2009, at Thurston Woods Village in Sturgis. She was born Jan. 26, 1911, in Kalamazoo,  a daughter to the late Jacob and Elva Esther (Krupp) Schwenk. Miss Schwenk began her education at the District No. 4 Leonidas Township School from 1917-1925. She attended Colon Public Schools for her …

Lee W. Brown, 70, of Sturgis,  died Sunday June 28, 2009, at the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek.  He was born July 1, 1938, in Coldwater, to William and Charlotte (Sours) Brown. Lee married Joyce Hearld, Nov. 27, 1968, in Sturgis. He served with the U.S. Army from 1962-1964. He enjoyed classic cars and racing cars at Butler Speedway …

     The Fourth of July is Saturday. You might want to do as I’m planning to do and  top off the car’s gas tank today or tomorrow. I’m not speculating, but I’d put money on the fact that gas prices will jump up significantly before Saturday. It’s called “greed”, and it runs rampant among the oil companies.       Some of …

June R. Hendrix, 89, of White Pigeon, Mich., died Thursday, June 25, 2009 at Thurston Woods Village in Sturgis after a short illness. She was born June 22, 1920, in Sturgis, a daughter to Ray A. and Della M. (Grimes) Jones. She lived in the White Pigeon area all of her life. She married Joe Kolter, and he preceded her in …

Roy Hartman, 75, of Marcellus, died Wednesday evening.  Visitation will be at the Mater Funeral Home in Marcellus on Sunday from 3 to 6pm.  Services will be on Monday at 11am at Poe’s Cemetery.  Memorials may be directed to Newberg-Norton Bible Church.

Vern L. Thrams, 80, passed away March 21, 2009, at St. Joseph’s Hospital of Zephyrhills, Fla. Vern was born Nov. 25, 1928, in Colon, Mich. He was married in June 1952 to Joan Moser and they made their home in Sturgis, Mich., where Vern was a tool and die maker for Sutton Tool Inc., retiring in 1994. Vern enjoyed hunting, …

Benjamin Allen “Ben” Burkett, age 20, of Mendon, died Tuesday, June 23, 2009 from injuries received in a motor vehicle accident in Brady Township.  He was born in Kalamazoo on May 14, 1989 the son of Gordon A. and Minnie (Blair) Burkett, Jr.  He attended Vicksburg Schools where he participated in football and wrestling.  Ben graduated from Portage Central High …

Katherine (Kay) Shoemaker, 73, passed away Monday, May 25, 2009, at a hospice hospital in Bradenton, Fla. Kay was born in Nappanee, Ind., on Aug. 21, 1935, a daughter of Owen and Fern Shoemaker. Kay graduated from White Pigeon High School and the Bronson Hospital of Nursing with an RN degree. She loved to travel and had been in all 50 states. …

This year’s Three Rivers Water Festival is now in the books, so I won’t mention this again until next year. Despite the weather, it was fun. Next weekend is Relay for Life, another opportunity for the community to come together and do something good for humanity. Relay for Life starts at 10 A.M. next Saturday, June 27 at Armstrong Field …

Charles A. Fetch, of Three Rivers, passed away on June 22, 2009 at Heartland Health Care Center.  He was born on Nov. 16, 1922 in LaGrange, IN, the son of Homer Charles and Mary Grace (Bellaire) Fetch.   Charles was a graduate of White Pigeon High School.  During WWII he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as Sgt. of …