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Birgette Marie “Gitta” Springer passed away at her beloved Mendon home on Monday, December 22, 2025, just five days short of her 96th birthday. She was born on December 27, 1929 to Henry and Nielsigne Jepsen who had immigrated from Denmark. In 1939, the family moved to Mendon, where her father’s desire was to farm his own place.
Gitta took to farm life immediately, helping with chores and attending the Hall one room schoolhouse at the south end of the road on Michigan Avenue. The family took extended vacations via ocean liners to Denmark to visit family while she was in school and again a few years after graduating from Mendon High School as a class salutatorian in 1947. Following a semester at WMU, she decided she’d really like to farm. The next year, her sister, Ella encouraged her to enroll in the beauty college in Fort Wayne, where she was attending business school. There, Gitta worked as a waitress in a large hotel, while learning the trade she would love for the next several years. She was a beautician in Sturgis and then opened her own place, Gitta’s Beauty Shop, in Mendon. In the 1950’s she gave her mother and aunt a fashionable upsweep style with curls on top which became their signature hair styles for the rest of their lives. Shortly following her marriage to Mill Springer in 1965, she sold the shop and stayed home, babysitting for many children for several years while raising their own family.
Gitta and her family started attending the West Mendon church in 1940 and it remained an important part of her life forever. There, she was a Sunday school teacher, financial secretary, and always volunteered for yard work or painting jobs. She was a wonderful cook, but her specialties were her desserts and people usually inquired “is that Gitta’s dessert?” at every potluck and dinner. She often made multiple dishes so that everyone could have some.
In 1974, she went to work at the Upjohn Company in Portage, where she was employed as an inspector until 1992. After that, she enjoyed caring for their grandchildren at their home on Fisher Lake where they entertained friends and family all summer long. Some would swim, ski, and fish, but her favorite lake activity was pontoon rides. Every weekend, in addition to other delicious fare, she made a large batch of her famous potato salad for company.
She and Mill took many trips with Steve to the Shriners Hospital in Chicago for surgeries, and several years, they spent spring vacations in Florida which always included a visit to Lakeland to see the Tigers in spring training.
After retiring, in addition to being daycare for her grandchildren and entertaining visitors, her mother lived with them in her later years, after Mill’s passing in 1999 and her mother’s in 2000, she built a home next door to the Mendon farm house where she had grown up so she could be closer to her grandchildren on the farm.
When Gitta was 75, she decided she’d like to go back to work so she applied at the Mendon school cafeteria and Felpausch (Family Fare) Market in Vicksburg and was immediately hired at both places. She worked at the school every day until after lunch, would quickly stop at home, and then go to Vicksburg where she was a good demonstrator. She kept those jobs for several years, and really enjoyed them because it combined her specialties of food and serving people.
She was secretary of the Mendon School Board for several years and was inducted into the Mendon Hall of Fame.
Gitta loved watching the planting and harvesting from her picture windows, taking an occasional ride in the combine, many gator rides around the farm with her granddaughter, Hannah, and mowing her lawn with her riding lawn mower.
She loved her lawn and flowers, her home, which was always immaculate, canning and freezing, cooking and baking, her Danish figurines and plates, music (her radio was always on), her live Frasier Fir Christmas trees, a cocker spaniel named Benji, watching the birds on her feeder, helping others in any way, and most of all, she loved her family. She always took an active interest in what her family was doing.
Remaining to cherish these memories are he daughter Pat and son-in-law Randy Tompkins of Mendon, son Steve Springer of Lawton; step-daughter Sally and son-in-law Ron Carpenter; brother Cliff (Mary Lou) Jepsen; grandchildren Jessen (Brooke) Tompkins, and their children Taylor, Sara, Jolene, Jonathan, and James Tompkins; Petrea (Matthew) Schumacher, and their children Randy and Elaine; Hannah Tompkins (Jonathan); and Gabe (Madalyn) Tompkins and their daughter Emma; grandson Allen (Melissa) Carpenter, their children Joshua and Courtney; granddaughter Sheri Carpenter; and great-grandchildren; Nora and Andrew Carpenter.
Preceding her in home-going are her parents; her husband, Millard; Eric Henry and Maria Lynn (two of the triplets which included Steve); also, stillborn twins, grandson, Larry Carpenter and her sister Ella, and brother in law, Ron Labram.
Visitation will be held at the Eickhoff Funeral Home on Sunday, December 28, 2025 from 1 until 4pm. Funeral services will be at West Mendon Community Church on Monday December 29, 2025 at 11am with Pastor Troy Peterson officiating. Interment will be at Dutton Cemetery at the north end of her road, where she placed and watered the many family urns every summer. Immediately following, lunch at the church will be served by her West Mendon family.
If desired, donations may be made to the West Mendon Community Church or Centrica Care Navigators.
Gitta’s wish was to never leave her home and her granddaughters Hannah and Petrea made that possible. Thank you to Matthew who made sure she could be at church every Sunday. Thank you to Centrica Care for their attention and care the last few months. And thank you to everyone who played a role in her very special life.
