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Mildred (Millie) H. (Luck) Hitzeman, 104, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, May 14, 2015. Mildred was born on March 3, 1911 the second child of Herman and Agusta (Rhoda) Luck and was baptized on March 19, 1911 by the Rev. Louis Neuchterlein. Her Godparents were Nettie Brueck, a cousin and her Uncle August Luck. Mille was confirmed at age 14 in 1925 by Rev. Otto Schumn. Mildred felt honored to have been an active, faithful, lifelong member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Centreville, MI. She graduated from the one-room Oak Grove School, located on a hill above the family farm.
On November 16, 1929, she married Fred G. Hitzeman at the church parsonage by Rev. Otto Schumn. The date was only a month after the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929, so the honeymoon trip was a night in Detroit and then an overnight visit with an aunt and uncle in Toledo, Ohio.
The Hitzeman’s had two children, Richard D. (Colleen) Hitzeman and Phyllis A. (Jerry L. “Wheat”) Batten, 10 grandchildren; Debbie (Ron) Patterson, Becky (Steve) Elieff, Kerry (Kim) Batten, Todd (Cindy) Batten, Duncan (Norma) Cameron, Joe Cameron, Terri (William Siewertsen) Cameron, Kathy (Thom) Cochran, Michael Cameron, and Beth Cameron. She was also blessed with 22 great –grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren. Mildred enjoyed a loving relationship with her surviving sister Norma Frays and in recent years delighted in a special friendship with former neighbor Greg Gibson.
Mildred was preceded in death by her husband Fred in 1972; her parents Herman & Agusta Luck; siblings Elsie Hitzeman, Edith Riley and Arnold Luck; son-in-law Jerry L. “Wheat” Batten and grandson Duncun Cameron.
Mildred’s favorite bible verse was John 3:16, 17. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”
The family wishes to thank Three Rivers Health Hospice and personal care aide Doreen McNary for their excellent care, compassion and guidance shown to Mildred as she prepared to enter her heavenly home.
Relatives and friends will be received on Monday, May 18th at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Centreville from 2 – 4 p.m. and 6 – 8 p.m.
A funeral service celebrating Mildred’s life will be held on Tuesday, May 19th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s with Pastor David Grimm officiating. A graveside committal will follow the service at Prairie River Cemetery in Centreville.
The family suggests those wishing to make a memorial donation in Mildred’s memory please consider St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Paving Fund or Three Rivers Health Hospice. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.eickhofffuneralhome.com
