Keith Eugene Otto

Keith Eugene Otto, age 80, of Pleasant Lake, MI, passed away peacefully at his home on October 29, 2024. He wrestled with lung cancer for over a year, but this fight was too big. Keith was born on July 21, 1944 to Gardner and Jeanette (Sayler) Otto. Keith graduated from high school in 1962 in Stockbridge, MI. Keith was a proud Navy Veteran, having served from 1962-1965. He was a graduate of Western Michigan University with BSEE. He went on to become a Master Electrician.

Keith loved time with family and friends. He was a long-time friend of Bill W.  Traveling with his lovely wife was a highlight. He especially loved time with his two children and five grandchildren. He was close to his two brothers. There were dinners, games, ice cream, BBQ grilling, and lots of laughter and jokes.

Keith was a loving husband to Rosalyn (Boyce) Otto for 57 years. She survives. Keith also leaves behind his loving daughter, Tina (Jason) Gary and his devoted son, Brent (Andrea) Otto. His grandchildren lost a caring and fun grandpa, and they survive: Ethan, Cora, Brayden, Makenna, and Caleb Otto. He leaves behind his two brothers and their wives, Arnold (Barbara) Otto and Dean (Janet) Otto and three children between them; plus two bonus sisters, Nancy Buss and Laura (John) McMullen, along with their five children between them.

The family wishes to thank anyone that helped them in the past year with prayers, food, support, and rides.

Visitation will be held at the Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home, 424 E. Main St., Stockbridge on Sunday, November 3, 2024, from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 4, 2024, 11:00 a.m., at the Stockbridge United Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Oaklawn Cemetery, Stockbridge.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Chelsea Hospital Cancer Center or the Salvation Army-Jackson. 

Beverly A. Richards

Beverly Ann Richards, age 89, of Ann Arbor, MI, passed away on Oct 17, 2024 at Linden Square Assisted Living Center in Saline, MI.

Born July 10, 1935 in Detroit, MI, daughter of Katherine (Hertica) and Clayton Richards. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, Nancy Warren (John), Faye Cook (Duane), her brother, Lynn Richards (Starlet), a niece, Kelli Spaulding and nephew, Cameron LaPointe.

Bev was raised in Ann Arbor and graduated from Ann Arbor High School, Class of 1953. She continued her education at EMU pursuing a career in teaching. While there, she joined Beta Sigma Phi and proudly remained an active member for the rest of her life. Her years as a preschool teacher were rewarding and memorable as she thrived on captivating the imagination of young minds. It was Bev’s deep rooted love of animals that in later years led to her home pet care business, Creature Comforts. She enjoyed several decades of caring for her client’s beloved pets and made lasting friendships along the way.

As a lifelong resident of Ann Arbor, Bev’s wide range of interests led to a rich, engaging, and fulfilling life. She enjoyed attending community theater, educational programs, library events, and concerts.The U of M School of Music Halloween Concert became a treasured annual tradition. A born leader, she helped plan events and gatherings with her sorority sisters, high school classmates, neighbors, friends, and family. She needed to be where the action was!

Beverly will be remembered for her strong independent spirit, passion for learning, sense of humor, fiery temper, gift of gab, thoughtful handwritten cards, her love of newspapers, mystery novels, celebrations, holiday decorating, and all of nature.

The family wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to the hospice and Linden Square caregivers for their compassion, kindness, respect, and support. Bev had a kind and loving network of friends and neighbors who enriched her life immensely. Her family will be forever grateful for their support.

Bev will be missed by her nieces, Michelle LaPointe (Genevieve), Christine LaPointe (Patrick), Risa Richards (Doug); and nephews, Clayton Cook and Kip Richards (Rose), great nieces and great-nephews, and many dear friends.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Humane Society of Huron Valley.

Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea.

Deborah J. Oakley

Deborah Jane Oakley was born at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital in 1937 and died at home on August 21, 2024.

She was the daughter of Kathryn Willson Hacker and George F. Hacker. They lived in Wyandotte, MI until 1945, moving to Fort Wayne, IN for the rest of her early life.

Using money saved from cleaning offices, she presaged a life of international interests by studying French at the Collège Cévenol (Haute Loire and a center of WWII French Resistance) in the summer of 1953. She graduated with high honors in political science from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1958. She married her collegiate sweetheart, Bruce Oakley, the next week and moved to Providence, RI where she received an MA degree in political science from Brown University and was the Director of Teenage and Adult Programming at the local YWCA.

The couple then spent one year in Stockholm, Sweden where Debby worked for Gunnar Myrdal and made lifelong Swedish friends. During the next two years while living in southern California, they had their first child, Ingrid (a rare native Angelino); then their second child, Brian, after settling in Ann Arbor, MI.

With encouragement from the University of Michigan’s Center for Education of Women, Debby became part of “A Dangerous Experiment” enrolling with three other married women for further study. As one of those then-considered obstreperous women, she received an MPH followed by a PhD from the U-M.

During her years as a faculty member at Michigan, she received funding from state, federal (NIH), and private sources and served as a member of federal NIH and state review and advisory panels. Her research at the U-M’s School of Nursing focused on women’s health and included ground-breaking tracking of contraceptive behaviors and institutional effects on women’s health in the U.S. and China, evaluation of delivery care by certified midwives (as compared with obstetricians), documentation of nurse-managed centers in the U.S. and China, and women’s health behaviors in Iran.

She was known as a knowledgeable and dedicated mentor to colleagues and students in her own School of Nursing, elsewhere in the university, and other countries. Debby collaborated extensively with colleagues from multiple universities and was grateful for her long-time collaborator, the late Meiyu Yu, MD, PhD. Together they established an educational and research partnership with Peking Medical University School of Nursing (as it is now known), with support from the Kellogg Foundation and the Robert DeVries Scholars. She also served on the Board of Directors of the local and national Planned Parenthood, and as an American Public Health Association member, she helped found and led what is now the Section of Sexual and Reproductive Health and APHA’s Women’s Caucus.

She attended the 1974 U.N. Conference on Population in Bucharest and represented the International Public Health Association at the 1975 United Nations meeting on women. As a delegate of the International Federation of Public Health, she attended the 1984 U.N. meeting on women in Mexico City. In her more than two decades of retirement as a Professor Emerita, she continued as a peer-reviewer for international journals, benefited from work as an ESL tutor, loved her garden, and greatly enjoyed the increased time to interact with friends. As a Political Science major, she spent countless hours working to get out the vote.

Married for more than 66 years, she traveled the world with her husband and spent time in Mexico reviving his childhood memories and making new friends. Their 20+ years of retirement together were lovingly productive. Debby was especially proud of her children and promoted their international interests: Ingrid’s two years teaching with the Peace Corps in Lesotho (Africa), and Brian’s two years with the JET program teaching in Hokkaido, Japan.

To assuage the empty nest syndrome, she worked with Chelsea teachers to develop a Sister-City program with Shimizu-cho, Hokkaido that lasted for more than 25 years. To honor her parents, Debby developed Katie’s Grove of birch trees and daffodils on their property, and an endowed George Hacker student internship at the U-M’s Clements Library. Her parents and her brother, David Willson Hacker, all now gone, were great influences.

Survivors include her patient and talented husband; her precious and beloved children and grandchildren, Ingrid (Michael) and their children Olivia and Yost; Brian (Angela) and their children Sophia and Willson; a niece, Sarah and her daughter Ellie; a nephew, Jonathan (Kristen) and children David and Maggie, and a great-nephew, Zachary.

A celebration of life will be held at the Chelsea Depot on Sunday, November 3, 2024, at 10:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Planned Parenthood or National Public Radio (NPR).

Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea, MI,

Reece M. Comiskey

Reece Marie Comiskey, age 22, of Erie, MI, passed away on October 19, 2024.

She was born September 6, 2002 in Ann Arbor, MI and is the daughter of Becky (Gaynor) Risner and David Comiskey Jr.

Reece enjoyed music, camping, swimming, and was especially good at winning the game, Mancala.

Survivors include her father, David, Jr. (Melanie) Comiskey of South Lyon, her mother, Becky (Rick) Risner of Grass Lake; her grandmothers, Marge Comiskey of South Lyon and Kenna Gaynor of Chelsea; her siblings: Megan (Tim Henes) Cook of Dexter, Madison Green of Northville, Bryce Green of Northville, Jason (Jamie Ottoman) Risner of Chelsea, and Jessica (Eric Gerardi) Risner of Pinckney; nephews, Kennie Cook and Matthew Harris; and nieces, Athena Henes, Morgan Harris, Natalie Harris, Nova Risner, and Josie Gerardi.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, David V. Comiskey Sr., E. Leland Gaynor, and Janice Timpe, and a brother-in-law, Patrick Cook.

A Memorial Service will be held at Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, 901 North Main St., Chelsea, on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 6:00 p.m., where the family will receive friends from 4:00-6:00 p.m.

Sally (Titus) Tarte

Sally (Titus) Tarte, age 85, of Pleasant Lake, MI, passed away peacefully at home on October 19, 2024.

She was born on May 21, 1939, in Detroit, MI, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Plonka) Taylor. Sally’s passions included shopping, bowling, golfing, and reading, but her greatest joy came from raising her children. She was a devoted mother to David (Janet) Titus, Tonni (John) Flannery, Paul Titus, Joyle (Chuck) Kitley, and Lloyd (Brenda) Titus.

Sally married Robert Titus, and he preceded her in death in 1990. She later married Richard Tarte, and he passed away in 2022.

Sally is survived by her five children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her four siblings: Tom Taylor, Bob Taylor, Jackie Morgan, and Donna Kirwan.

A Memorial Service will be held at Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 1:00 p.m., where the family will receive friends from 11:00 a.m. until the time of service.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Patrice M. Marner

It is with great sorrow that the family of Patrice M. (Cox) Marner, of Stockbridge, Michigan, announce her passing at her home and horse sanctuary on October 11, 2024.

Patrice was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan on December 1st, 1953, to Donald Ray Cox and Janet Elaine (Blecha). Patrice graduated from Pinckney High School in 1971. She went on to receive her Bachelors Degree at Eastern Michigan and then furthered her academic studies to obtain a Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan. Patrice worked as a Bereavement Coordinator for Jackson Hospice for 20 plus years. However, it was in her retirement that she found complete joy by tending to her three horses and her beloved mule!

Patrice was a musician. She received her first guitar as a gift at the age of 19. She later went on to write music and sing her heart out while playing her guitar, banjo, or ukulele. She will always be remembered by ALL for her love of music and the joy she brought to others that were fortunate enough to hear her play.

She is survived by her three children, Kelten Fry of Gregory, Corbyn (Lucas) Dach-Butler of Livonia, and Kyle Cox of Howell; four grandchildren, Caiden Kint, Alyssa Kint, Teagan Butler, and Quinn Butler; three brothers, Donald (Debra) Cox, Christopher (Holly) Cox, and Jon (Deborah) Cox; as well as many nieces and nephews. Patrice is preceded in death by her parents, as well as her sister, Ellen "Kay" (Bob) Jorgenson, and brother, Timothy Cox.

Mass of Christian Burial will be prayed at St. Mary Catholic Church on Friday, October 18, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church from 10:00 a.m. until the time of Mass.

In lieu of any flowers or donations, please consider making a donation to Horses Haven, where her beloved horses and mule are receiving loving care.

Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea.

Gloria J. Gauthier

Gloria Jean Gauthier, age 87, passed away peacefully at her home in Pinckney, Michigan, surrounded by her family on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.

She was born April 26, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. On April 25, 1959, she married Charles “Chuck” Gauthier. They moved to Pinckney from Garden City, Michigan in 1977 and have resided in the same home since. Gloria was a very strong and hard-working woman. She loved her family and enjoyed cooking homemade meals for everyone. She was so caring, always helping those in need, whether it was a family member, friend, or a complete stranger. She took pride in her home and yard, and she spent many hours decorating her house and making sure her yard was immaculate. She will be deeply missed by her family and those close to her.

She is survived by her five children: Edward (Sharon) Gauthier, Michele (Larry) Cain, Chuckie (Kim) Gauthier, Rene (Jeff) Smithers, and Heather (Joe) Mills; five grandchildren: Farrah (Josh) Smith, CJ (Chelsea) Gauthier, Jamie (Evan) Dingman, Emiley Gauthier, and Mariah (Jake) Krummrey; and four great-grandchildren: Koan, Brinleigh, Calyx, and Georgia. Gloria is preceded in death by her husband and her beautiful granddaughter, Nichole Gauthier.

Cremation is planned, and a private family gathering will be held.

Arrangements by Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home, Stockbridge.

Jeff Long

Jeffery N. Long, of Stockbridge, MI, age 68, passed away at his home on October 3, 2024. Jeff was born on June 13, 1956, the son of Lawrence and Lila (Oakley) Long.

Jeff was born and raised in Stockbridge, MI, where he lived all his life. He worked as a Trucking Manager for Clutch Trucking for 20-plus years. He also served on the Stockbridge Area Fire Department for over 50 years. He was an avid outdoorsman, and he enjoyed hunting and fishing.

He married Lori A. (Bradshaw) on November 16, 2013, and she survives him. Also surviving are five children, Nicole Long of Jackson, Roxann Long of Jackson, Jamie Allen of Jackson, Jackie Gray of Jackson, Sabrina (Robbie) Dexter of Leslie; bonus children: Ryan (Megan) Whited of Stockbridge, Katie (Mike) Baker of Gregory; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; his siblings, Jerry (Jennell) Long of Stockbridge, Jimmy Long of Stockbridge, and Joey (Susie) Long of Chelsea. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Cremation has taken place, and all services will be private. Those wishing to make a memorial contribution in Jeff's name, may do so to the Stockbridge Area Emergency Services Authority (SAESA).

Arrangements by Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home.

Carl Carpenter

Carl Carpenter, of Jackson, MI, age 91, passed away on September 9, 2024 at the Jackson County Medical Care Facility. He was born the son of Ellis and Adeline (West) Carpenter on September 6, 1933 in Royalton, Kentucky. 

Carl was the first four-letter athlete in Stockbridge School history his Junior year of high school in 1952. Carl served in the United States Marine Corps  from 1953-1957 and served in Korea. He also was a corrections officer in Maine and Michigan for many years.

Carl is survived by his loving companion of many years, Shirley Farley. He is also survived by his children, Janet (John) Allen, Terry Carpenter, Randy (Cathy) Carpenter, and Sadie Carpenter;  his sisters, Judy (John) Jedele and Janet Carpenter, as well as many nieces and nephews. Carl  was preceded in death by a son, Carl Carpenter Jr., his brothers, Edsel, Arnold, Kelly, Jack, and his sister, Joanne Arnett. 

A graveside service will be held on Friday, October 11, 2024, 11:00 a.m., at the Munith Cemetery.

Arrangements by Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home, Stockbridge.

Anna "Louise" Knickerbocker

Anna “Louise” (Salyer) Knickerbocker passed away peacefully the morning of Friday, October 4, 2024.

Louise was born in Salyersville, Kentucky on October 18, 1936 to Forrest and Prudie Salyer. She graduated from Salyersville High School in 1953. Before she even graduated high school, Louise hitched a ride to Chelsea with her cousin and began working at Jiffy Mix in 1952. Louise went back to Salyersville to finish high school and returned to Jiffy Mix after her 18th birthday. Louise continued her work life at Jiffy Mix until she retired in 2005.

Louise met the love of her life, Ray Knickerbocker, and they married in 1957. Louise and Ray welcomed their daughter, Terri, in 1958, followed by their sons, Brian “Tim”, Brad, and Brett, and finally, their daughter, Heidi. Louise and Ray also helped raise their nephew, Joel Gregory “Greg” Howard, until he was 15 years old when Greg went to live with his father in Kentucky.

Louise’s humble upbringing in eastern Kentucky (Appalachia) formed the foundation of her strong work ethic and devotion to family, leaving her with little time for hobbies or relaxing. For many years, and just as she had been raised by her parents, Louise enjoyed the hard work of planting and nurturing the family garden. There, she would grow most every vegetable and always a year’s worth of corn and beans for freezing and tomatoes for canning. Louise was also a great cook and enjoyed serving up “Southern” cooking most of all.

Louise also loved sports! She received much joy from, and took great pride in, the sporting exploits of her children and grandkids. She was also a long-time Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers fan (through the good and, more often, the bad seasons). Most of all, Louise loved the Michigan Wolverines and the KentuckyWildcats. She even enjoyed supporting the MSU Spartans, but not when they were playing Michigan or Kentucky.

Most of all, Louise took great interest in the lives of her children and grandkids, never hesitating to lecture on the virtues of hard work, owning a home, and delayed gratification on the non-essentials. Louise never forgot her humble upbringing in Appalachia (Salyersville, Kentucky).

Louise is survived by and will be missed by her sisters, Donna Maynard and Bobbi Scott; her children, Terri Alcazar of Chelsea, MI, Brad and his wife, Suzanne Clauser, of Chelsea and Oakland Township, MI, Brett and his spouse, Raphael, of Miromar Lakes, FL, and Heidi Farris and her husband, Ryan, of Oakland Township, MI; grandchildren,Travis, Sarah, Grace, Carter, Gavin, Sophie, and Nolan; as well as numerous extended family members and friends.

Louise was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Ray, her siblings, Maude Chalfin and Forrest Salyer, Jr.; her son, Tim; her nieces, Vicki Chalfin and Sandy Knickerbocker, and her nephews, David Knickerbocker, Mark Scott, and Greg Howard.

Visitation is on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, 901 North Main St., Chelsea, Michigan, as well as at the church on Thursday, October 10th, from 10:00-11:00 a.m.

A celebration of Louise’s life will be held on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., at St. Paul United Church of Christ, 14600 Old U.S. 12, Chelsea, Michigan 48118. An interment will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery in Chelsea.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Paul United Church of Christ, 14600 Old U.S. 12, Chelsea, Michigan 48118.

Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home.