Madeline Evelyn Duncan, age 95, of Sturgis, Mich., passed away Friday morning, May 11, 2012, at Thurston Woods Village in Sturgis. She was born July 14, 1916, in Kosciusko County, Ind., a daughter of the late William M. and Florence M. (Reed) Cleveland. Mrs. Duncan resided in the Burr Oak and Sturgis area most of her life. She married Albert …

Velta Berzkalns, age 89, of Three Rivers, passed away on Monday, May 7, 2012 at the Kairos Dwelling Adult Foster Care Home in Kalamazoo. She was born in Riga, Latvia on June 29, 1922 the daughter of naval officer and tugboat captain Ludvigs and shopkeeper Melanija (Kreitals) Junkulis. Velta fled from Latvia during World War II and settled in Detroit, …

Investigators from the Michigan State Police District headquarters in Paw Paw said a Sturgis man who escaped last week from a Thumb-area correctional facility was captured Thursday night. Officials said 31-year-old Darrell Stallard left a work crew Monday near the Tuscola County facility where he was incarcerated. Through previous arrangements, Stallard was given a ride to Sturgis from two accomplices. …

Saturday’s cleanup of a five-mile stretch of the Portage River drew a small but productive group of volunteers. The first of seven river and river bank cleanups scheduled this season by the St. Joseph County Conservation District drew seven participants. Collectively, the group recovered eight tires, an assortment of cans and bottles, and other forms of debris from the river …

St. Joseph County Animal Control Officer Tom Miller said the last of five threatening pit bulls, thought to have been abandoned late last month at Meyer Broadway Park, has been killed. Miller said the dog was found living in the area around Westside Landfill. It had avoided a number of traps and, as a result, was shot by a deputy …

Michael Lee Moreland, age 48, of rural Constantine, died Saturday, May 12, 2012 at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. He was born in Marion, IN on July 4, 1963 the son of Marcell and Eunice (Cameron) Moreland. He was a collector of many things, and was the proprietor of Old World Merchantile& Antiques of Schoolcraft for the past 14 years. …

Karen Eggleston Buscher, 50, of Three Rivers, died Thursday, May 10, 2012 at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. She was born in Three Rivers on Aug. 1, 1962 the daughter of David and Janet (Rhodes) Eggleston and was a lifetime resident of Three Rivers. After graduation from Three Rivers High School, Karen worked at Coachman Industries in Middlebury, Ind. for …

Robert “Bob” Allen Mitchell, 63, of Three Rivers, passed away suddenly April 19, 2012 at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. Bob was born March 28, 1949 in Elkhart, Ind., the son of Clarence and Wilma (Whirledge) Mitchell. Bob graduated from Concord High School, Elkhart, Ind. in 1967. Upon his high school graduation, Bob joined the U.S. Air Force in 1968 …

Anne C. (Kyle) Cumberbatch, age 87, of Sturgis, passed away Thursday afternoon, May 10, 2012, at Sturgis Hospital. She was born Jan. 3, 1925, in Port Washington, Long Island, N.Y., a daughter of the late John and Mary (MacDermid) Casey. Mrs. Cumberbatch resided in Sturgis since 1996 coming from Long Island. On May 17, 1947, she married John Francis Kyle in …

James William Mitchell, 89, of Vandalia, passed away at 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He was born June 24, 1922, in Elkhart, Ind., to John Willis and Violet Lyde (Slusser) Mitchell. On Aug. 22, 1942, in Elkhart, he married Betty Jane Vullmahn. She survives, along with one son, James W. (Elaine) Mitchell II …