Archive - Jun 2011

George F. Pepler, age 95, formerly of Tecumseh, Michigan, passed away on June 13, 2011, at Bixby Medical Center. He was born October 3, 1915, in Glasgow, Scotland to Ebenezer John and Emily Edith (Townsend) Pepler. On April 26, 1940, he married Margaret Muirhead, and she survives. He served with distinction in the British Army for all 6 years of WWII. After coming to America in 1947 he was employed by Bank of the Commonwealth in Detroit for 29 years. He was a member of the Adrian Church of Christ. He loved buying old violins and clocks and restoring them.

In addition to his wife, Margaret, he is survived by a daughter, Beryl McHenry, and her husband Earl, of Blissfield; two grandchildren, Leslie (Timario) Wilkins of Ann Arbor, and Matthew (Maegan) McHenry of Portland, Oregon, and four great-grandchildren, Jeremiah, Maxine, Caiden and Ellia. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, John and Alexander, and one sister, Emily Todd.

George was a devoted husband and father, and a fine Christian man who knew where he was going and Who would be there to meet him. At his request cremation has taken place. A visitation opportunity will be held at the Anderson Funeral Home in Adrian on Wednesday evening, June 15, from 6 – 9 p.m. Interment of cremains will take place on Thursday morning, June 16, at 11:00 a.m. at Brookside Cemetery in Tecumseh.

You may send condolences to the family at www.andersonfuneralhomeadriantecumseh.com.
Memorial contributions may be made to Adrian Church of Christ, Lenawee Medical Care Facility or to the Hospice of Lenawee building program.

Bernice LaVona came into the world on August 1, 1910, at home, on a 40 acre farm south of Lyons, Ohio. She was the fifth child of Parley K. and Jennie Mae (Hawkins) Gillespie.
On March 1, 1936, she was united in marriage with Alton Otto Theodore Demlow, and they lived on Maple Avenue for 66 years, until his death on October 9, 2002. To this union were born two children, Dr. Jean Demlow (George) Parmley of Tipton, and James (Joan) Demlow, of Clayton.

Bernice attended the Tecumseh Church of the Nazarene and was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Adrian, she loved to crochet, and make afghans for her grandchildren, she was a lover of cats and dogs, and had many of her own over the years. She especially enjoyed music and playing her ukulele. She will surely be missed by all who knew and loved her.

Bernice passed into eternal life on June 11, 2011 at the age of 100 years, 10 months, and 10 days. She was preceded in death by her parents, as well as brothers and sisters; Hazel Smelts, Huron Gillespie, Mildred Hallett Fuller, Lester Gillespie, and Doris Gillespie, a grandson; Eric Parmley in 2010.

She leaves behind to mourn, her children, Jean, with who she made her home with after the death of her husband, and Jim, and their spouses, seven grandchildren; Timothy (Jennifer) Demlow of Adrian, Jeffrey (Sarah) Demlow of Flint, Daniel (Daisy) Demlow of Ypsilanti, Christine Lobkovich of Clayton, Andrew (Stephanie) Parmley of Whitehall, Cheryl (Orlando) Villarreal of Houston, TX, and Vicky (Carl) Boswell of Jasper, many great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.

Emma Caroline Johnston, age 84, of Adrian, passed away surrounded by her loving family on Friday, June 10, 2011. She was born November 26, 1926, in Morenci, Mich., to William and Mamie (Powelke) Kruse. On January 3, 1948, she married Willis Duane Johnston, in Seward, Ohio. Emma was a member of the Fairfield Baptist Church. She dearly loved spending time with her family and putting on a family dinner for any occasion. Summertime found her tending a garden and sharing the bounty with all. Emma enjoyed quilting and gifted many cherished quilts to her children and grandchildren. She also enjoyed crossword puzzles and traveling to see her family.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by one son, Don (Mei) Johnston of Urbana, Ill.; two daughters, Barb (Mike) Deatrick of Tecumseh and Shirley Johnston of Adrian; three brothers, John (Jean) Kruse of Adrian, Carl (Wanda) Kruse of Morenci and Junior (Jane) Kruse of Morenci; two sisters, Marie Plummer of Kansas City, Missouri and Ellen Wilson of Morenci; five grandchildren, Luke Johnston, Matt (Melanie) Johnston, Tammy Johnston, Monica (Geoff) Volpe and Brandi (Gary) Polmounter; 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild; four step-grandchildren, Butch (Jana) Deatrick, Kris (Frank) Verrier, Gunnar Deatrick and Peter Ho; and ten step-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, and two sisters, Bessie Yenor and Louise Kruse.

Funeral services for Emma were held on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. at the Adrian Chapel of the Anderson Funeral Home with Pastor Stephen Boley officiating. Burial was in Fairfield Cemetery.

You may send condolences to the family at www.andersonfuneralhomeadriantecumseh.com. Memorial contributions may be made to the Fairfield Baptist Church. Envelopes are available at the Adrian Chapel of the Anderson Funeral Home.

By DEB WUETHRICH

As a teenager, artist Katy Vander Sande could be found sketching rock and roll album covers like those owned by her brother. The artist has several pieces of her artwork on the walls at Pentamere Winery throughout June. Vander Sande said all the children in her large family had creative gifts, including singing and dancing, but she didn’t stick with the art talent she’d discovered back then.

“I loved art in school, but never really pursued it, and I’ve regretted not pursuing an art degree,” Vander Sande said. “But I try to keep myself from too much regret and what ‘could have been,’ because I also believe God has a plan for my life and always has. He has never wasted time. The pull to get back into the art now is from Him and I’ll take it where it leads me.”

The tags near her abstract pieces note that they are “Pneuma Art.”

“Pneuma means ‘breath,’ and it’s where we get the word ‘pneumonia,’” Vander Sande explains, pointing out the spiritual aspect to her work. “It goes back to the beginning of time, when God breathed spirit into all men.” She said the Holy Spirit can be symbolized as wind or breath. “I like to think my work is inspired by the Spirit of God,” she said.

The brightly colored works in the exhibit were done using art board and acrylic paint and are finished with an epoxy resin. There are sweeps of pink, reds and bold flowers. Vander Sande’s favorite piece is a work in lavender, black and gold. As she worked, the symbol of a dove appeared.

“That meant a lot, because the Spirit of God descended on Jesus as a Dove,” Vander Sande said, adding that having it evolve from the work was meaningful to her. One potential avenue she sees for the art is that some of her designs could become hardcover laptops.

By Mickey Alvarado.

A grand slam homerun by Tecumseh’s Jacob Britt sparked the Indians’ to a 16-1 three-inning mercy ruled varsity baseball win over Parma-Western in the MHSAA Division 2 regional championship at Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

Tecumseh senior Jake Moore picked up the pitching win. It was the Indians’ first regional title victory in the last 30 years (1981), and the first for head coach Tom Bullinger.

Tecumseh senior Stephen Bilotta pitched the Indians’ to a 5-0 shutout against Gibralter-Carlson in the opening regional contest.

The Indians will advance to the state quarterfinal at the University of Michigan on Tuesday, June 14, with a 4 p.m. game start against the winner of the Grand Rapids Christian bracket. The winner of that contest advances to the semifinal at Bailey Park in Battle Creek on Friday, June 17. The state final is on Saturday, June 18.

Complete results from the contests will be reported in next week’s Tecumseh Herald.

Now that's the kind of newsgathering I like to do - going to the places where they feed you.
On Tuesday night, I took some time to attend a Tecumseh District Library presentation "Elbow Grease and Wood Smoke: Michigan's Culinary History." It was presented by historians Larry and Priscilla Massie. The Massie's also have written an award-winning cookbook, "Walnut Pickles and Watermelon Cake: A Century of Michigan Cookery," which is also available at the library. I was surprised and delighted to see a recipe for Tomato Soup Cake in there, a cake my mother always made for me when I planned to visit. Many in the midwest have not heard of the concoction and go, "Ew. Tomato soup in a cake?" It turns the batter orange, but it is essentially a spice cake.
The Massie's both had pleasant demeanors and a good sense of humor as Larry held up mysterious tools from the couple's culinary collection, asking if the audience knew what they were used for. He got the audience to laughing when he showed how women used to determine the temperature of the oven before oven thermometers and sensors (by holding an arm in the oven and counting), telling how they could, chase the pain with a swig of solution for medicinal purposes that sat on the stove in a glass bottle, with the concoction made of 40 percent alcohol and a touch of cocaine.
As Larry talked, Priscilla cooked aebelskiver,a Danish recipe from 1890, which smelled so good. At the end of the presentation came the best part: the audience got to sample the soft little puffs rolled in confectionary sugar. DEEE-LI-CIOUS! Sometimes she adds blueberries or apples to them, Priscilla said.
The event will be described more fully in a feature story for Homefront Magazine next Fall.