Obituaries

Earl Brown, 83, of Portage, died on Thursday, July 12, 2012, in Kalamazoo with his family at his side. He was born on April 24, 1929, in Kings Mountain, Ky., to Amos and Dora (Floyd) Brown as one of seven children and raised in Bluefield, W.Va., until the age of 14 when his family moved to Kalamazoo. Upon completion of …

Maurice M. Pippenger, age 79, of Sturgis, Mich., passed away unexpectedly Saturday morning, July 14, 2012, at Matthew 7:7 Limited in White Pigeon, Mich. He was born Feb. 18, 1933, at the family farm in Greenfield Township, Ind., a son of the late George and Ella (Royer) Pippenger. Maurice resided in Sturgis since 2010. Before moving to Sturgis nearly his …

George E. Pierce, age 75, of Sturgis, Mich., passed away unexpectedly Saturday morning, July 14, 2012, at  Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Mich. He was born Jan. 28, 1937, in Sturgis, Mich., the son of Raymond and Majel (Barrett) Pierce. George was a lifelong Sturgis resident and a graduate of Sturgis High School with the class of 1955 and continued …

Gail Lynn Goff, age 58, of Sturgis, went to be with her Lord Jesus on Thursday, July 12, 2012 at her home surrounded by her loving family. She was born April 28, 1954 in Plainwell, the daughter of Richard and Marie (Cooley) Rouse. Mrs. Goff has been a long time bank teller of the Centreville area. On Nov. 4, 1972 …

Donald C. Fitch, age 84, of Three Rivers, died Thursday July 12, 2012 at his home following a long illness. He was born in Three Rivers on April 1, 1928 the son of Raymond and Ether Marie (Spooner) Fitch and was a lifetime resident of Three Rivers. He graduated from Three Rivers High School in 1947. Donald was a long …

Marguerite “Peg” E. Wilson, age 95, of Sturgis, passed away Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. She was born Jan. 13, 1917, in Detroit, a daughter to the late Otto and Julia (Baty) Lentz and moved to Sturgis from Detroit in 1947. On Sept. 26, 1946, she married Edgar “Ed” W. Wilson in Detroit. He preceded …

Jack Arbanas, age 78, died Saturday, July 7, 2012. For the past year, he was lovingly cared for by his wife, Rose, and the Willows staff at Spring Arbor Assisted Living for Alzheimer’s disease. He was born April 5, 1934, in Calumet, a son of Marion and Mary Arbanas. Since 1971, he was a resident of Sturgis. He spent 31 …

Eugene J. Yesh, age 89, of Sturgis, passed away unexpectedly Sunday, July 8, 2012, at his home. Eugene was born April 7, 2012, in Ann Arbor, a son of the late Steve and Francis (Czajkowski) Yesh. He grew up in Bronson and attended Bronson Schools. He had lived all his adult life in Sturgis. On Oct. 12, 1946, he married …

Norman Brown Jr., 61, of Constantine, died Sunday, July 8, 2012, at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, following a short illness. He was born Sept. 8, 1950, in Ypsilanti, a son of Norman and Ardith (Wilson) Brown. He was a resident of the Constantine area since 1989, coming from Three Rivers. His early life was lived in Jackson. He owned and …

Thomas K. Lytle, 52, of Elkhart, Ind. and formerly of Centreville, passed away on Wednesday, July 3, 2012. Private family arrangements are planned at Hohner Funeral Home in care of his arrangements.