James Stephen McKenzi, age 67, of Sturgis, Mich., passed away Saturday afternoon, March 5, 2011, at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. He was born March 23, 1943, in Jonesboro, Ark., a son of Jim and Willodean (Swindle) McKenzie. Jim had resided in Sturgis since 1972 coming from White Pigeon where he had lived his early life and graduated from White …

Thomas Lee Hughes, age 63, of Leonidas, died Saturday March 5, 2011, at Thurston Woods in Sturgis. He was born in Battle Creek, Mich., on March 9, 1947, the son of Samuel B. and Eddiess (Thomas) Hughes and was a lifetime resident of Leonidas. He graduated from Colon High School with the class of 1965 and had engaged in general …

Amos L. Brigham Jr., 96, of Centreville, passed away Friday, March 4, 2011 at his home. He was born in Needham, Mass., on July 13, 1914, a son of Amos and Agnes (Graun) Brigham Sr. On April 8, 1961 he married Janice Sewards in Centreville. She preceded him in death Jan. 5, 2009. Amos retired from the Textile Industry in …

Cory V. Alexander, 20, of Mendon, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 in Batavia Township. He was born in Kalamazoo on July 1, 1990 the son of Terry and Kelly (Miller) Alexander. He had been a lifetime resident of Mendon and member of the Mendon High School class of 2009. Cory was a loving and caring young man who …

Hildegard Lewis, age 60, of Sturgis, passed away Monday, Feb. 28, 2011, at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. She was born Nov. 28, 1950, in Oggersheim, Germany, a daughter of the late Albert and Maria Metz. Hildegard had resided in Sturgis for the past 40 years, coming from Germany. On March 26, 1970, she married John Lewis in Oggersheim. She …

Frances A. Asselin-Liggett, age 72, of Haslett, died Wednesday, March 2, 2011 following a year-long battle with cancer. She was born in Detroit on Jan. 8, 1939 the daughter of Norman W. and Mary Ellen (Graves) McKinney. The family later moved to Kalamazoo where she attended Kalamazoo Central High School. Frances was first married to Harold Allen, and they had …

Welcome to March 2011. February, which is the shortest month, seemed at times to be the longest, because of the weather. This month we’ll set our clocks ahead one hour, fine tune our figures for the tax man, celebrate St. Patty’s Day, and put away the snow shovels, because we’ll not get any more snow. If you believe that, I …