Ila Pierson, 80

Ila Mae Pierson, 80, of Marcellus, died Friday, April 6, 2012 at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. She was born on Oct. 9, 1931 the daughter of the late Leo and Florence (Wortinger) Westphal and was a lifetime resident of the Marcellus area. Ila was married to Jack Richard Pierson in Centreville on April 15, 1950. Jack died on Sept. 13, 1986. She had been employed at ARCO Rubber in Schoolcraft, the Big Boy restaurant in Paw Paw, and Petersen Spring in Three Rivers.

Ila is survived by three children, Larry “Pete” (Anne) Pierson of Westerville, Ohio, Louann (Mark) Hagenbuch of Three Rivers and Linda (Layton Spicer) Owen of Marcellus; three grandchildren, Tammy (Richard) Jackson, Sherry Brown and Kyle (Ameythist) Hagenbuch; six great-grandchildren, Tasha (Aaron) Bradford, Richard Jackson, Ashley Brown, Emily Brown, Owen Jackson and Nikolai Hagenbuch; one great-great-grandchild, Gavin Stevens; special friends, Sharon Hartsell, Hank Priest, Julia Swihart, Joyce Wilcox and Gladys Halverson.

The family will receive friends from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Eickhoff, Farrand, Halverson Chapel in Three Rivers. Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12 at the funeral home with Rev. Dr. Maria Rutland, Pastor of the First United Methodist Church officiating. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the ALS Association (fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease) at www.alsa.org. An online register is available at www.efhchapel.com.