Obituaries

Jessie Lee (Gill) Austin, age 39, a lifelong resident of Sturgis, Mich., passed away peacefully on Aug. 2, 2011, at 12:25 in the afternoon, after a courageous battle against breast cancer. She was surrounded by her loving husband (Robert Austin), her brother-in-law (Paul Salisbury) and sister-in-law (Heather Salisbury). She was born on April 13, 1972 to John Samuel and Nancy …

Maxine G. Minger Clark, 88, of Shelbyville, IL passed away at 4:00 AM Wednesday Aug. 3, 2011 in the Shelbyville Manor in Shelbyville, IL. Maxine was born Sept. 15, 1922 in St. Joseph Co., MI the daughter of Howard and Elsie Culow Hendrixson. She married Irvin Frank Minger on July 11, 1942 in Three Rivers, MI and he passed away …

Mary E. Beechy, age 49, 3 Months, of Centreville, passed away, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011, at Parkview Memorial Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. Mary was born May 3, 1962, in Medford, Wisc., a daughter to Eli M. and Clara (Mullet) Beechy. Mary moved to Michigan in 2000, coming from Amherst, Wisc. She was a member of the Old Order Amish …

Ray O. Bauder Jr., age 85, of Ezel, Ky., and formerly of Sturgis, Mich., passed away after a long illness on Friday, July 29, 2011, at the Wolfe County Health Care Center in Campton, Ky. He was born Aug. 15, 1925, in Quincy, Mich., a son of the late Albert Ray and Rosa Cora (Grindle) Bauder. On June 12, 1948, …

Clara A. Bontrager, age 11 months, died late Sunday, July 31, 2011, at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. She was born in Burr Oak on Aug. 25, 2010, the daughter of Alvin and Rhoda (Hochstetler) Bontrager. She is survived by her parents; three brothers, Ora A. Bontrager, Paul A. Bontrager, and Timothy A. Bontrager; one sister, Barbara A. Bontager all …

Dorothy (Dotty) Jean Kuhlman, age 80, passed away peacefully on July 30, 2011, at Sue’s Loving Care in Kalamazoo. She was born in Sturgis, Mich., on June 1, 1931, to Orville Jay and Helen Jean (Baldwin) Keeslar. On Nov. 18, 1950, in Sturgis, she married Vern (Al) Kuhlman and enjoyed 60 years of marriage with him until his passing on …

Lucile Southwick, 98, of Midland, died Saturday, July 30, 2011, at her residence. She was born on Oct. 30, 1912, in Toledo, Ohio, daughter of the late Fred & Edith (Loy) Nishumura. She was a graduate of White Pigeon High School and received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1954, her master’s degree in elementary education in 1959, a …

Jack Raifsnider, 81, of White Pigeon, Mich., died at 4:50 p.m. on Sunday, July 31, 2011, at Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo. He was born on Feb. 18, 1930, in White Pigeon, to Lester and Hazel (Snyder) Raifsnider. On July 3, 1955, in LaGrangem, Ind., he married Mary Parks. She survives. Survivors in addition to his wife are two nieces, Kathy …

Helen W. Magnus, age 95, of Marshall, and formerly of Sturgis, died Wednesday, July 27, 2011, at The Manor of Battle Creek. Mrs. Magnus was born to a farming family on Sept, 30, 1915, in Sturgis, Mich., to James and Viola (Pierson) Snook. She had been a resident of the Marshall area since 2006, moving here from Sturgis. On Feb. …

Harold B. Freeland Jr., age 85, a lifelong resident of Sturgis, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, July 30, 2011. He was born May 16, 1926, in Sturgis, a son to the late Harold B. and Florence June (Beebe) Freeland. Harold graduated from Sturgis High School with the class of 1944 and then joined the U.S. Army Air Force. …