Obituaries

Leonard James Bauder Jr., age 60, of Sturgis, passed away Tuesday morning April 21, 2020 at his home. He was born May 11, 1959 in Sturgis, son of the late Leonard James and Arla Mae (Rustad) Bauder. Leonard was a lifelong Sturgis resident. Most of his working life was in the restaurant business as a chef. He had been employed …

Merle Schmidtendorff, age 93, of Leonidas, died Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Battle Creek following a long illness. He and twin brother, Earl were born near Jones, on April 9, 1927 the son of Clarence and Lena (Garwood) Schmidtendorff. He attended Shavehead Country School and then served in the U.S. Army in Japan as a …

Larry Oliver Briggs, age 77, of Mendon, died Monday, April 20, 2020 at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. He was born in Kalamazoo on Sep. 24, 1942 the son of the late Oliver and Jessie (Evans) Briggs. He graduated from Vicksburg High School and first worked at Tibbots as a welder and then Simpson Paper Company. Larry spent most of …

Richard Harden, age 87, of Grand Haven and formerly of Three Rivers, passed away on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. He was born on January 11, 1933, in Three Rivers, to B. Raymond and Winifred (Freese) Harden. On June 14, 1974, he married Carol Macey. Richard graduated from Three Rivers High School in 1951 with a focus in Industrial Arts. This …

Isaac James Snow, age 93, of Three Rivers, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the Heartland Health Care Center.  He was born on January 22, 1927 in Jonesville, Michigan, the son of the late Wayne and Ellen (Guy) Snow. Mr. Snow graduated from Centreville High School and served his country during WWII in the United States Air …

Patricia Joan Hawkins, age 85, died Friday, April 17, 2020 at Heartland Healthcare Center in Three Rivers where she had resided the past two years. She was born in South Bend on Jan. 15, 1935 the daughter of Cecile D. and Carmelita (Ullrey) Hawkins. Pat had lived at several adult foster care homes in the Michiana area for most of …

Donna Marie (Carkenord) Hiemstra, age 97, of Mendon, died Thursday, April 16, 2020 at Fairview Living and Rehabilitation in Centreville. She was born at the family farm north of Mendon on April 11, 1923 the daughter of Nicholas Daniel and Anna Marguerite (Jackson) Carkenord. She graduated from Mendon High School with the class of 1940 where she played softball. and …

Helen C. Tedrow, age 91, of Centreville, passed away on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at her home. Helen was born in Fabius Township on June 16, 1928, a daughter of Robert and Mary (Brown) DeLong.  She graduated from Three Rivers High School in 1946 and went on to attend the Art Institute of Chicago and Bob Jones University. On February …

Christopher M. Huston, age 54, of Three Rivers, passed away Wednesday, April 15, 2020 after a brief illness. He was born on June 28, 1965 in LaGrange, Indiana the son of David and Ann (Boyd) Huston. Chris graduated from Mendon High School and proudly served 8 years in the US Navy as an avionics technician before embarking on a professional …

Arthur “Art” John Dykstra, age 90, of Three Rivers, went to be with his Lord peacefully on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at Safe Haven Assisted Living. He was born on April 4, 1930 in Sioux Center, Iowa the son of the late John M. and Anna (Wyma) Dykstra. Arthur served his country honorably in the U.S. Air Force. On June …