Doris A. (Hawkins) Grutsch

   Doris Adele (Hawkins) Grutsch, 95, passed away peacefully at her home in East Jordan on Tuesday, August 6, 2019.

  Doris was born in a small log cabin on March 28, 1924, to Carl and Adeline (Holden) Hawkins on Tebo School Road in Warner Township.  She loved to tell the story of that day.  Her father drove a horse drawn sleigh 10 miles to town to get the doctor. On the way back, her father drove so fast around a corner that the doctor flew off the sleigh into a snow bank. It was the worst storm of the winter!

  She attended a one-room school house on Tebo School Road through the eighth grade.  In her high school years, she really did have to walk 2 miles to a bus stop to attend school in Boyne City until her senior year when the bus came to her home.  She graduated from Boyne City High School in 1941.

  On the first day of spring, March 21, 1942, she married Carl Ned Grutsch, Jr. on the front porch of the East Jordan United Methodist Church parsonage.  Working together, they made their home on the family dairy farm on Peninsula Road in East Jordan.  Doris was a hard worker, milking cows by hand and making fantastic meals for the many workers who helped on the farm during haying season.  

 She was a 4-H Leader and taught canning.  She enjoyed quilting, sewing, mowing the lawn, working in her vegetable and flower gardens.  Doris made a embroidered quilt for each of her grandchildren as they graduated. Doris and Carl always welcomed the friends of their children, some almost lived there.  Her children had many sleepovers with friends.  They were always allowed freedom to roam the farm and barns. 

  Family was Doris’ number one priority.  She loved each and every one of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren unconditionally and with her whole heart. She was the glue that held the family together.

  Doris always felt blessed to have grown up on a farm, surrounded by wonderful family and neighbors.  Her stories were always positive and full of fun times.  She was always appreciative of her blessings in life including staying in her own home until her death.  She continued to have a sense of humor to the very end of her life.  She was a wonderful example of a simple but fulfilling life lived, knowing what was important and what wasn’t.  She will be greatly missed but forever loved.

  She is survived by four children, David (Susan) Grutsch of East Jordan, Linda (William) Chase of East Jordan, Lucille “Cele” (Robert) Malpass of Neebish Island, and Jim Grutsch of Mancelona; 8 grandchildren, Shelly Malpass-Raymond, Jennifer (John) Wilson, Sara (Drew) Heise, Angie (Scott) Nachazel, Michael Grutsch, Amber (Matt) Sewell, Jeremy Grutsch and Donna (David) Dyer; 25 great grandchildren; and 2 great great grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Dorothy Hawkins of Boyne City; and several loved nieces and nephews.

  Doris was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Carl N. Grutsch, Jr.; her first born daughter, Donna Jean Grutsch at sixteen months; her parents, Carl, Sr. and Adeline Hawkins; her sister and brother-in law, Hilda and Clarence Reinhardt; her brothers, Carl Hawkins, Jr. and Donald Hawkins; and sister-in-law, Ruth Hawkins.

  A celebration of life service will be held on Tuesday, August 20, 2019, at 1:00 P.M. at the Penzien Funeral Homes, Inc. in East Jordan.  Visitation will be held on Tuesday from 11:00 A.M. until service time at the funeral home.  Rev. Craig Pahl of the East Jordan United Methodist Church will officiate. Interment will be in Maple Lawn Cemetery in Boyne City.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Charlevoix County Humane Society, 614 Beardsley Street, Boyne City MI 49712.

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