james w. hill, shelley christine wilson anti-bullying ... · horace “dean” wilson. funeral...

12-AA • Sunday, May 6, 2012 www.mihomepaper.com

Obituaries ObituariesSHELLEY CHRISTINE WILSON, 43, of Fairmont,

West Virginia died Thursday, April 26, 2012. Shelleywas born September 24, 1968, in Port Huron, thedaughter of Roger and Sally (Snyder) Wilson. She wasa graduate of Dayton Christian High School in Dayton,Ohio.

Shelley enjoyed playing the flute and singing in musi-cals while in high school. She attended Galilian BaptistChurch and sang in the choir and played flute there aswell.

Shelley is survived by her parents, Roger and SallyWilson of Fairmont, West Virginia; brother, BradleyWilson of Englewood, Ohio; and her grandmother,Phyllis Wilson of Silverwood, Michigan.

She was preceded in death by her grandmother,Christine Snyder; and grandfathers, Leslie Snyder andHorace “Dean” Wilson.

Funeral services will be held at the Carpenter andFord Funeral Home in Fairmont, West Virginia,(304)366-4671.

A graveside service was held Wednesday, May 2,2012 at Stiles Cemetery in Lapeer. Rev. Arnold Bracyofficiated.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Lapeer Our family serving yours for Generations

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ALICE E. SMITH, 63,of Metamora passedaway Sunday, April 29,2012 at Mercy Hospitalin Port Huron after a longand courageous fight.

She is survived by hermother: EvelynHenderson; sons:Edward Jr., Wayne(Teresa), and Michael(Vanessa); grandchildren:Rebecca, Nick, Sara,Austin, Christopher,

Michael Jr., Garett, Ian, and Nathan; great-grandchild:Christopher; her partner: Mike Bovee and daughter:Alexis Rae; brother: Robert (Elisabeth) Chriscinske; sis-ters: Janet: (Lynn) Marker and Rose Glassford; andmany nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband:Edward; father: Maurice Chriscinske; and step-father:Marvin Henderson.

Alice was a life-long resident of Imlay City andAttica. She was a graduate of Imlay City High School,class of 1966; and a 2005 graduate of DavenportUniversity. She had been employed by H&R BlockServices, General Motors, and Cambridge.

Alice enjoyed the outdoors and spent much time out-side with her parents while growing up and with herhusband and children. She loved and is loved by hergrandchildren and provided continuous love and sup-port as they grew.

A funeral service was held Wednesday, May 2, 2012at Muir Brothers Funeral Home of Imlay City. PastorCarl Meier officiated. Burial followed at Imlay TownshipCemetery.

Memorials may be made to Karmanos.Funeral arrangements were made by Muir Brothers

Funeral Home of Imlay City. Visit our online guestbookat muirbrothersfh.com.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Imlay CityOur family serving yours for Generations

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JAMES W. HILL, 78, of Attica died Friday, April 27,2012. Mr. Hill was born November 16, 1933, in Lapeer,son to John H. and Bernice (Porritt) Hill. Jim marriedJoyce A. Livingston on May 25, 1953, at theImmaculate Conception Church, in Lapeer.

Mr. Hill retired from the United States Postal Service,serving as a mail carrier in Flint and Burton. After retir-ing, he worked part time for Ross Automotive in Lapeer.Jim enjoyed golfing and bowling.

Mr. Hill is survived by his wife, Joyce Hill of Attica;daughters, Marie (Charles) Neumeyer of Allenton, Carol(Mike) Neumeyer of Lapeer; grandchildren, Amber(Frank) Kuron, Heather (Richard) Rapp, Brian (Kelly)Neumeyer, Christen (Greg) Kopp, Ashley Neumeyer;great-grandchildren, Aubrey, Jaclyn, Jacob and Michael;siblings, Shirley (Joe) Gleason of Beaverton, Norm(Jackalyn) Hill of North Branch, Joyce Relitz ofBeaverton; and several nieces and nephews.

Jim was preceded in death by his son, Brian Hill; par-ents, John and Bernice Hill; brother, Roy Hill; and infantsister, Marie.

Memorial contributions may be made to the family.Mr. Hill’s funeral service was held Monday, April 30,

2012 at the Muir Brothers Funeral Home, Rev. MarvinRamthun officiated. Burial was at Mt. Loretto Cemetery,Lapeer.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Lapeer Our family serving yours for Generations

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LEROY “LEE” WARREN, 84, a lifetime Attica resi-dent, died Monday, April 30, 2012. Lee was bornSeptember 21, 1927, in Attica, son to Lyle and Ethel(Burgess) Warren. Lee married Joan West on March18, 1950, at the Hunters Creek Methodist Church.

He proudly served his country as a staff sergeant inthe United States Army during WWII. Lee worked 30

years at Pontiac Motors, retiring in 1976. Hewas a member of Trinity United MethodistChurch for over 50 years. He loved to tinker

with small engines and his tractors. Lee loved to fish.He is survived by his wife, Joan Warren of Attica;

daughter, Roxann (Ty) Leffler of Red Lion, PA; son, Dan(Linda) Warren of Barnes Lake; four grandchildren, Lisa(Kevin) Kight, Chad (Vicki) Warren, Stacy (Dan)Thompson, Mindy (Justin) Schultz; and nine greatgrandchildren. Lee is also survived by many nieces,nephews and cousins.

Lee was preceded in death by four sisters; four broth-ers; and his parents.

Memorial contributions may be made to the AmericanHeart Association or the American DiabetesAssociation.

Funeral services were held Friday, May 4, 2012 atthe Trinity United Methodist Church, Pastor Ralph H.Pieper, II officiated. Burial followed at Mt. HopeCemetery, Lapeer with military honors under the aus-pices of the American Legion Post 16 Honor Guard.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Lapeer Our family serving yours for Generations

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DONALD WALKER, 73, of Imlay City, passed awaySunday, April 29, 2012 at Hurley Medical Center.Donald Lawrence Walker was born July 26, 1938, inImlay City, the son of Alvin and Doris Walker. He grewup in the Imlay City area and was a graduate of DrydenHigh School.

Donald married Thelma Dunstan on April 22, 1966, inFlint. He worked for Michigan Bell (which becameAT&T) for 42 years as a system technician. He was onthe Attica Fire Department and the Elba FireDepartment for a combined total of 34 years.

He is survived by his wife, Thelma Walker of ImlayCity; son, Don Walker, Jr. of Imlay City; daughter,Debbie Lutze of Birmingham; grandsons, Farron(Heather) Ezakovich of Oakland, CA, Daniel (Kristen)Ezakovich of Denver, CO, Michael Ezakovich ofBirmingham; great-grandchildren, Jonathon of Denver,CO, Kapri of Denver, CO, Wyatte of Oakland, CA,Teagan of Oakland, CA; and sisters, Mary Weemaes ofImlay City and Ruth (Lee) Delanoy of Imlay City.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Alvin andDoris Walker; son, John Jay Walker; and brother-in-law,Larry Weemaes.

Memorial may be made to your favorite charity inDonaldís name.

A funeral service was held Friday, May 4, 2012 atMuir Brothers Funeral Home of Imlay City. Burial fol-lowed at Crestwood Memorial Cemetery in GrandBlanc.

Funeral arrangements by Muir Brothers FuneralHome of Imlay City. Please visit our online guestbook atmuirbrothersfh.com.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Imlay CityOur family serving yours for Generations

810-724-8285

ALEX HUMMEL, 32, of Imlay City, passed awayThursday, April 26, 2012 at home. Alex MatthewHummel was born May 4, 1979, in Yale, the son of Earland Beverly Hummel. He spent all of his life in ImlayCity. He graduated from Imlay City High School, classof 1997. He continued on to receive his Bachelor’sDegree from the University of Michigan in 2001. He wasa member of the fraternity “Sigma Nu”. He owned ClearLake Sand of Imlay City and worked at the MichiganProving Ground in Romeo as a Test Driver for sevenyears.

Alex is survived by his parents, Beverly Hummel ofSandusky, Earl and Cindy Hummel of Imlay City; sis-ters, Gwen (Joseph) Lindsay of Davison, RebeccaHummel of Imlay City; and brothers, Kris Patterson ofGrand Rapids, Jason Patterson of Royal Oak, PatrickPatterson of Clarkston, and Justin Hummel of DesMoines, Iowa.

A funeral service was held Monday, April 30, 2012 atthe Imlay City Christian Reformed Church. PastorJoseph Lindsay officiated.

Arrangements by Muir Brothers Funeral Home -Imlay City. For more information please visit our onlineguestbook at muirbrothersfh.com

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Imlay CityOur family serving yours for Generations

810-724-8285

FRANCES L. PLAGENS, 86, of Lapeer, formerly ofSt. Clair Shores, died Friday, May 4, 2012. She wasborn May 10, 1925, in Olatha, KS, daughter to Crantrelland Isadora (Farber) Snodgrass. She married JosephRaymond Plagens, on May 2, 1952, in Detroit.

She was a member of the Scarab Club, Society ofWomen Painters, Michigan Water Color Society,Lakeside Palette and a Sustaining Member of theAmerican Water Color Society. Frances was an accom-plished and prolific artist, she spent her life enjoyingand perfecting her craft. It was her passion, her life'swork. She was a painter, illustrator, and sculpture andenjoyed a twenty year career as an illustrator andadvertising artist with the Detroit Free Press. Franceswas a winner of numerous local, regional and nationalawards, her paintings are held in many private and cor-porate collections. She will be remembered for her tal-ent, but even more so for the way she affected otherswith her engaging personality, her loyal friendship andher love.

Frances is survived by her loving children, Michael(Zahra) Plagens of Phoenix, AZ, Joanne Froh ofOakland Township, Daniel Plagens of Madison, SD; lov-ing grandchildren, Eric, Brian and Heather; and dearsister, Dorothy (Wallace) Agren of Grosse PointeWoods.

Mrs. Plagens was preceded in death by her dearhusband, Joseph; son, James; and parents, Crantrelland Isadora.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Lapeer Our family serving yours for Generations

www.muirbrotherslapeer.com810-664-8111

CHRISTOPHERBRUCE, 50, of Attica,passed away suddenlyWednesday, May 2,2012 at McLarenHospital - LapeerRegion. Christopher AmilBruce was born onDecember 19, 1961, inPontiac, the son ofRoger and Mary Bruce.He lived most all of hislife in the Imlay Cityarea. He was married to

Mindy Lee Elling, on October 19, 1985, inImlay City.

Chris served in the U. S. Air Force in early1980's. He worked with the Accounting and PayRollDivision of the Western Command. He had beenemployed by General Motors Orion Plant for 17 years.He retired from General Motors as an Assembly GroupLeader. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church.He loved going to Notre Dame Football Games with hisfamily and spending time in Caseville at the familycabin.

He is survived by his wife, Mindy Bruce of Attica; ason, Christopher Amil Bruce II of Grand Rapids; daugh-ters, Amy (Anthony) Touchette of Bossier, Louisianaand Rebecca Lee Bruce of Attica; his parents, Rogerand Mary Bruce of Imlay City; his parents-in-law, Tomand Connie Elling of Imlay City; brothers, Roger Bruceof Imlay City, James (Donna) Bruce of Imlay City,William Bruce of Grand Blanc, and John (Gayle) Bruceof Hilo, Hawaii; and sisters, Michelle Bruce of Imlay Cityand Jan (Doug) Thompson of Imlay City.

Those planning an expression of sympathy may wishto consider memorials to the Bruce Family.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 am Monday, May7, 2012 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Imlay City. TheRev. Alan Casillas, pastor of the St. Paul LutheranChurch, will officiate.

Friends may call at the Muir Brothers Funeral Home,225 Main Street, Imlay City, MI, where the family will beavailable for visiting 2-5 & 6-8 pm Sunday. A specialVeterans Salute service will be held 7:15 pm Sunday.

Funeral arrangements were made by Muir BrothersFuneral Home of Imlay City. Visit our online guestbookat muirbrothersfh.com.

Muir Brothers Funeral Home - Imlay CityOur family serving yours for Generations

810-724-8285

BY ABIGAIL WISEContributing Writer

LAPEER — Kindnessand respect are like anorange. At least, that’swhat 26-year-old KevinSzawala, a motivationalspeaker known as Mr.Peace, said during anassembly at ChatfieldSchool on Wednesday.Mr. Peace explained how,when one eats an orange,the fruit’s scent spreadsto one’s fingers, thenslowly begins to perme-ate the air surroundingthe person, spreading outfarther and farther untilthe smell can fill a wholeroom.

Kindness and respectfor others spreads thesame way, said Mr. Peace— starting with one per-son, kind acts can spreadthroughout an entireschool, changing it into akinder, more respectfulplace. To illustrate hispoint, he ended hismetaphor by taking a bigbite out of an orange.

His message struck achord with many of thestudents at Chatfield. “Itreally got me right here,”said seventh grade stu-dent Claire Fricke whilepointing to her heart.Kindergartner ZachMcCallum said, “I learnedabout kindness, respectand being friends.” Co-director of Chatfield BillKraly was happy with themessage presented byMr. Peace and the stu-dents’ reception of thatmessage. “I think his mes-sage was really beneficialand helped to reinforceall of the work we’vebeen doing on treatingeach other with kindnessand putting an end to bul-lying,” said Kraly.

As a hip-hop artist,peace activist and poet,Mr. Peace uses his manytalents to keep childrenengaged at his assem-blies, trying to inspirethem to be who theywant to be — to kindle“an internal fire that givesus the sense of freedomand confidence needed tostart each day with a pur-pose.” Each of Mr.Peace’s speeches are tai-lored, both in contentand delivery, to fit theneeds of the group he willbe speaking to. AtChatfield, he taught andperformed rap songs withpositive lyrics to the stu-dents. Kraly said the kidsenjoyed the music. “He(Mr. Peace) was veryentertaining ... he defi-nitely kept their atten-tion.”

For Mr. Peace, speak-ing to children is a dreamcome true. “It’s alwaysbeen my passion — tospeak,” said Mr. Peace, aUniversity of Michigan —Ann Arbor graduate.Szawala’s journey to

become Mr. Peace beganin 2006 when he visitedhis high school sister’sSouth Lyon classroom asa guest speaker. Otherteachers from the schoolasked him to speak totheir classes, then teach-ers from other schoolsbegan making requests,and Being Who I Want 2Be, LLC was born. In2010, motivational speak-ing became Mr. Peace’sfull-time gig; in the lastsix years, his speechesand presentations havereached more than 50,000people throughoutMichigan.

By “connecting to peo-ple through (his) heartand through humor,” Mr.Peace has found that heis able to share his mes-sage successfully. I have a“burning kind of in myheart to give back,” saidMr. Peace.

Kraly first heard aboutMr. Peace from OregonTownship’s Camp Lael.Mr. Peace was a successat the camp, and Kralysaid he lived up to expec-tations. “It was a goodexperience and he defi-nitely has a great mes-sage to share,” said Kraly.Annette Young, an eighthgrade teacher atChatfield, said “His mes-sage was pretty awesomeand powerful, and thekids seemed to reallyenjoy it.”

Chatfield is alwayslooking for energeticspeakers to help motivatestudents, according toKraly. Before Mr. Peace’sWednesday assemblies,Kraly said we “need toremind them (students)of, you know, here’swhat’s really important ...that’s why he’s (Mr.Peace) coming.” HavingMr. Peace speak so nearthe end of the school

year was intended to ben-efit Chatfield’s graduatingeighth graders especially.“We wanted to send oureighth graders off on areal positive note,” saidKraly.

After finishing hisassemblies, Mr. Peacestayed to eat lunch withthe Chatfield studentleadership group. “Theirgoal is to try to keep hismessage going” beyondthe assemblies, explainedKraly, pointing out thatthe stresses, challengesand temptations youngpeople face today arestronger than many peo-ple outside the teachingprofession may imagine.

To help keep Mr.Peace’s message alive atChatfield, Kraly said theschool is considering par-ticipating in a return pro-gram that Mr. Peacebegan last November. Inthe program, Mr. Peacesaid he revisits groups hehas spoken to for severalmonths after the initialvisit, interacting with thekids during lunch orrecess as “a way to sus-tain that spark that wascreated during (his) firstvisit.”

Kraly said having Mr.Peace speak at Chatfieldwas an excellent opportu-nity to remind studentsof the importance ofcharacter. Before theWednesday assemblies,Kraly said he was mostlooking forward studentslearning to “revitalizetheir commitment totreating each other withrespect.” It is “importantfor our kids to be able tohave and show respect.”

To find out more aboutMr. Peace or to book himfor an event, visitwww.beingwhoiwant2be.org or call 856-MR-PEACE856-677-3223.

‘Mr. Peace’ bringsanti-bullying messageto Lapeer County students

Kevin Szawala, also known as Mr. Peace, poses nextto a peace pole at Saint Joseph Parish in South Lyon.

You can also view our obituariesonline at www.mihomepaper.com

Photo by Jacob Hunsanger

North Branch track coach Jason Castle (center) presents a check for $930 toJeremy LaValley (right) from Corner Pieces, a non-profit organization thathelps children with autism. The funds were raised through T-shirt sales by thetrack team, and the money was donated last week at the Lapeer County TrackMeet.

Donation helps kids with autism