08-29-2019 Tri-City Obituaries

LUCILLE E. GRIESER

Lucille E. Grieser, 96, of Bainbridge Township died Monday, August 19, 2019, at Woodland Terrace in Coloma. Family services celebrating her life will be held at a later date at Crystal Springs Cemetery where her ashes will be buried. Arrangements are by the Davidson Chapel of Florin Funeral Service in Coloma. Please share memories, messages or photos at www.florin.net.

Lucille was born on March 31, 1923 in Bainbridge Township to John and Elizabeth Grieser. She graduated with a BA from Western Michigan University. Lucille received her MA in 1969 from Western. Lucille was a social worker with the State of Michigan for many years before her retirement in 1990. She was a member of Napier Parkview Baptist Church, Psi Chi, Sociology Club and Theta Pi Alpha. Lucille enjoyed working outside in her yard and garden. She also enjoyed music and playing the piano. She liked to write and do genealogy. She also loved cats and would feed any stray that showed up at her home. Her family includes her son, Allan (Mary) Grieser of Sebring, FL; her sisters, Eleanor Bluschke of St. Joseph and Margaret Morton of St. Joseph; her brother, Dean Grieser of Bainbridge Township; her four grandchildren, Mike, Matt, Mark, and Allyson and her eight great-grandchildren, Brandon, Connor, Ashley, Aubrey, Mikayla, Ty, Kairi, and Max. She was preceded by her two siblings, Leona Wagner and Leland Grieser.

ANDREW L. THOMAS

Andrew L. Thomas, 91 of Coloma, passed away August 26, 2019 at his residence. A Memorial Mass with Military Honors will be celebrated 11 a.m. Friday, August 30 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Watervliet. In lieu of flowers, please give to Hospice at Home, 05055 Blue Star Hwy, South Haven, MI 49090 who was so instrumental in his care or to St. Joseph Catholic Church. Those wishing to leave an online message of remembrance may do so at www.duffieldpastrick.com.

Andrew was born Sept. 17, 1927 in Hollywood, Calif. to Mildred and Harry Moses. His parents died when he was just a young boy so he was transported to Dowagiac to live with his aunt and uncle, Howard and Wilma Goodsell. There he joined the Boy Scouts of America and became an Eagle Scout. Later both of his sons also became Eagle Scouts. Andy was very athletic and joined both tennis and basketball teams. One summer he went to live with Dr. Stowe at Kalamazoo College to better his skills in tennis. He joined with Harold Upjohn and they together won the Michigan State Doubles tournament while he was still in high school. He participated in the Dowagiac High School basketball program and he scored 23 points to help win the Class B Championship title. After finishing high school, he enrolled at Western Michigan University. Since it was wartime, he was able to play as a freshman on the varsity team for Buck Reed. His greatest achievement there was playing at Madison Square Garden against St. John’s when he stole the ball at the end of the game, tied the score and put them into overtime as they went on to win the game. The campus was ecstatic, meeting them at the train station and carrying the players on their shoulders and parading through Kalamazoo. Later he was instrumental in making overtime wins against other colleges. Playing on the WMU tennis team he and Arnie Brown joined to win over other great colleges and Andy alone had the highest record for the tennis team at WMU. In 1946, war was on and all young men were being drafted so Andy joined the Army after his first year at WMU. He was sent with the occupational troops to Japan where he served for two years. There he played on the famed Kakura basketball team and the tennis team as well as attending to his duties as a Sergeant in WWII. On his way back from Japan, he stopped and enrolled at UCLA. His first year there was the same year that John Wooden became their basketball coach and Andy was happy to be able to join the UCLA team. They won the Pacific Coast championship that year. He also joined the tennis team where he and his doubles partner, Keith Self, won the Pacific Coast Conference Tournament. After his first year at UCLA, he returned to Dowagiac for the summer. There he met his wife Joyce who was teaching at the local high school. They dated but then he returned to Los Angeles for his sophomore year. The following year they met again and married on September 10, 1949. That will be 70 years in 2019. The following year Dr. Jeffrey Thomas was born in Santa Monica, Calif. and later Jeff produced two grandchildren, Matthew and Marya Thomas who live in Traverse City. Matthew is a helicopter nurse and Marya an insurance executive. Returning after graduation to live in Michigan, John Michael (Susan) Thomas was born and he later presented Andy with three grandchildren; Ryan John (Noreen) Thomas, manager of Depatie Fluid Power in Kalamazoo, chiropractic Dr. Lindsay Sue Thomas (Kevin) Dodd of Naples, Fla, and cosmetologist Alysse Anne Thomas of Kalamazoo. Andy has three great-grandchildren; Ryan’s children, Liam and Una Thomas of Kalamazoo and Lindsay’s daughter, Macy Dodd of Naples, Fla. He also has close relatives Judy and Ed Messal of Evansville, Ind, and Charles and Sharon Watts of Benton Harbor. Andy’s genealogy was traced back to 1069 with his great-great-great grandfather, Uzziel Putnam being the first white settler in Cass County. He was preceded in death by his son Dr. Jeffrey Thomas in 2002. Many thanks go to his caretakers for their great concern and care. Andy was a project engineer at Whirlpool Corporation for 35 years before he retired. During that time he continued with his tennis and he and Don Pimley of Muskegon won the 45 doubles tournament for the Southwestern Michigan Tennis Assoc. He was also a member of the Whirlpool Management Club, Coloma American Legion Post 362, and Alumni Clubs of both UCLA and WMU.

FLOYD WEBER

Floyd Weber, 99, of Bainbridge Twp., peacefully passed away early morning on August 19, 2019, at Hanson Hospice Center. He was surrounded by the love of his daughter, son, niece, and granddaughter as he made his way home to our Lord.

Floyd was born to Erwin and Iona Weber on March 14, 1920. He was the second born of three sons. His brothers were Gordon and Gilford. He also had one sister, Theone, who was a cousin being raised by his parents. Floyd spent his childhood on the family farm in Bainbridge. He graduated from Watervliet High School in 1937. He attended college for one year at Western State Teachers College (now Western Michigan University). He continued working on the farm until he was drafted to the Army in January 1942. He would soon be deployed to Normandy as the 1st Sergeant of the 165th General Hospital, which supported wounded American soldiers, but not before he married the love of his life, Lois Jeannette Jewell, on January 19, 1942. Floyd continued his service for three years then transferred to the 2nd General Hospital in order to come home several weeks early, in October 1945. When Floyd returned home, he and Lois continued raising their growing family in Bainbridge, in a house right across the street from his childhood home. They had four children, Ron, Susie, Kim, and Linda. Floyd worked building houses and then went on to work for Whirlpool and retired after about 25 years. In 1991, his life changed dramatically, when, during open heart surgery, Floyd lost his eye sight. It was an extremely difficult time for him, but he was very determined to adjust, and for many years, family, friends, and neighbors would see Floyd walking along Bainbridge Center Road, sometimes alone, and sometimes accompanied by his wife or grandchildren. His granddaughter was always amazed that at any point during their walk, he could tell her exactly where they were. Floyd was a family man. His family was very important to him and his grandchildren were definitely the light of his life. He loved having them around and enjoyed teaching them and telling them stories. But his one true love was his sweetheart, Lois. His eyes sparkled when she was in the room. Floyd also enjoyed sports. He was a huge fan of the University of Michigan, the Detroit Tigers, and loved following all of the neighboring community high school sports. Floyd is survived by his two sons, Ron (Betty) Weber and Kim (Debbie) Weber, and one daughter, Linda Alfieri, several nieces and nephews, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. Preceding him in death were his parents, his brothers and sister, his beloved wife, one daughter, and one grandson. Cremation services have taken place. Floyd will be honored on Friday, September 6, at Hutchins Funeral Home in Watervliet. Visitation for friends and family will take place from 12-1 p.m., followed immediately by a memorial service. Memorial donations can be made in Floyd’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association, or to St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Watervliet. You are invited to leave a message of comfort for Floyd’s family at hutchinsfuneral.com.

Death Notices

William “Bill” Kintup, 86, died Aug. 7, 2019 at home. Hutchins Funeral Home, Watervliet Ethel Hayhurst, 97, of Coloma died Aug. 20, 2019 at home. Starks & Menchinger Chapel and Cremation Services, St. Joseph David “Mark” Snyder, 52, died Aug. 8, 2019. Michigan Cremation & Funeral Care, Grand Rapids Robert “Bob” Brant, 90, of Sister Lakes died Aug. 13, 2019 at The Timbers in Dowagiac. Fairplain Chapel – Florin Funeral Service, Benton Harbor Joanne M. (Hocker) Stainbrook, 84, formerly of Coloma died Aug. 11, 2019 in Westlake, OH. Dovin and Reber Jones Funeral & Cremation Center, Amherst, OH Shirley Mae (Mollett) Francis, 82, of Stevensville died Aug. 20, 2019 at Hanson Hospice Center, Stevensville. Purely Cremations – Starks Family Funeral Homes, Benton Harbor Guy W. Meachum, 38, of Bangor died Aug. 25, 2019 at home. Filbrandt Family Funeral Home, South Haven Marianne R. Oldham, 70, of Hartford died Aug. 26, 2019. Clark Chapel and Cremation Services, Dowagiac