MARY ANN ANSPAUGH of Osseo was an enthusiast about animals all her life, especially horses, so it seemed only fitting that she was carried to her grave on a horse-drawn wagon last Wednesday. David and Phyllis Brugger of Sand Creek provided the well-turned out rig for the procession from Brown-Van Hemert Funeral Home to Maple Grove Cemetery. 

SUSAN QUINN ENGLE of Winter Park, Florida, formerly of Hudson, Michigan, passed away on October 9, 2006, from complications of sclero-derma.   Her death came too soon for those who loved her.  She will be remembered for her quick wit, which was rivaled only by her ready smile and heartfelt words of encouragement. She was born to Edward and Rita (Prendergast) Engle on May 28, 1948.   She was the loving, youngest sister of Edward Jr. (Jennifer) and Mari K. (Geoffrey) Moehl.  Later, she became a sister in spirit to Mercedes Bigelow. 

Susan spent her youth in Lenawee County, Michigan, and earned degrees from the Washtenaw Community College Dental Surgical Program and from Siena Heights University.   

Her interests were reflected in her vocations and hobbies. She was a family founder of Rima Manufacturing Company in Hudson, a dental surgical nurse at the University of Michigan, and later made a foray into the world of cosmetology.  She also enjoyed carefree days as a scuba diver, animal rescuer, sharpshooter and actress. Her screen credits include "Somewhere in Time" and "Continental Divide." 

A passionate movie viewer, Susan's collection put most video stores to shame. She was known for her love of animals, and she cared deeply for her own pets, friends' pets, family pets and any potential pet lucky enough to cross her path.  She also had a fondness for Pez dispensers, key chains, refrigerator magnets, singing fish and gifts that captured her unique sense of humor.  At the same time, she appreciated finer things and was an avid collector of antiques, crystal and ceramics.  She cherished family heirlooms and photographs. 

Susan embraced life and relished the company of others.  Even in her final months, she became a founding member of the Red Hat Society at Winter Park Care and Rehabilitation.  True to form, she embraced the club’s emphasis on fun without the encumbrance of rules. 

Susan was preceded in death by her parents, her aunt and uncle Cecelia (Prendergast) and James Forner and her uncle Gerald Engle.   She is survived by her aunt Eleanor Engle. 

In addition to her brother and sister, Susan is also survived by her stepmother Frances Engle and by her nieces and nephews, Anne (Shawn) Cummings, Laura (Richard) Tomasello, Jed (Jenny) Engle, Geoffrey (Lynn) Moehl, Elizabeth (Fabian) Salas, Crista (Vincent) McGinley and Joshua Sauter.  Their lives are richer for having grown in her loving acceptance.  She adored her grandnieces and nephews as deeply, and that affection was returned by Jacob and Benjamin Cummings, Abigail, Anna, and Julia Tomasello, E.J., Sarah, Hannah, and Rebekah Engle, Jarret and Alexander Moehl, Brooke and Brandon Asmus, Will Urbancic and Andy Salas.  They all mourn the loss of their "cool aunt." She will be missed by her cousins Sheila (Wiliam) Brogan, Kellie (Peter) Schneider, Daniel (Patricia) Forner, Shannon and Erin Forner, Patrica (Bruce) Vittum, and Sarah and Joseph Vittum. Because of the depth of her many relationships, Susan will be remembered at memorial services in two locations.  The first will be held on October 21 at 3:00 p.m. at the Baldwin-Fairchild Goldenrod Chapel in Winter Park, Florida.  The second will be at the Eagle Funeral home in Hudson, Michigan.  A visitation will be held on Friday, October 27 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  A wake service will begin at 7:00 p.m., when family and friends will share memories of Susan. 

A funeral mass will be held at Sacred Heart Church in Hudson, Michigan on Saturday, October 28 at 11:00 a.m. A brunch will follow and a private burial will take place later.  

Those wishing to make an expression of sympathy may direct memorial contributions to the Orlando (Florida) Humane Society or the Hudson (Michigan) Public Library. 

Frances Jean Valas, 78, of Howard City, formerly of metro Detroit, a retired public health nurse, passed away in her home on Wednesday, 11th October, 2006. The daughter of John Durwood Calvert, a dentist, and Frances Nita Sloan, a schoolteacher, she was born on Feb. 27th, 1928 in Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada. 

Jean attended the University of British Columbia and served as a Nursing Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve from 1951 to 1953, with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant. She moved to Michigan to serve in the Washtenaw County Health Department as a public health nurse, and met her husband, John, at Ann Arbor, marrying in 1956. They would be together for nearly fifty years. She left nursing to raise their four children, returning to the profession later to serve again in Macomb and Kent Counties. 

Throughout her life she acted on a deep commitment to caring for others, volunteering for an endless list of charity organizations, including work with the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Meals on Wheels, Project Literacy, Helping Hands, and many others.  

She was firmly and quietly religious, serving as an Elder at the St Thomas Presbyterian Church in Shelby Township, Michigan. 

Jean (as she was known to all) lived a country life as a child, later moving with parents to Victoria on Vancouver Island, a place she would return to all her life. She grew up surrounded by her mother’s flowers and her father’s dogs (she never met a dog she didn’t like). She played Tournament Bridge and wrote poetry, and she loved travel, from her first trip to Mexico (a present to herself on graduation from high school) to living in Europe in the early 1970s. 

One of her earliest memories was playing hockey (she was a goalie) and she passed her love of the sport on to her children. One of her lasting and final pleasures was taking the family dogs for walks in the woods, near the lake she retired to with her husband in Howard City, Michigan. 

She is preceded in death by her loving husband, John Chris Valas, and is survived by his brother, Dale Valas; four children, Chris, Catherine, Elizabeth, and John, who always called her Momma-Hey or Jeanie; and her four grandchildren, Grace Valas-Iverson, Hayden Valas, John Valas, and Dexter Hermans Valas, all of whom she loved dearly. 

There will be a memorial gathering of family and friends from 6 to 8 pm on Thursday, October 19th, at the Brown-Ternan & Christiansen Funeral Home, Greenville, MI. There will be a private interment service on Friday at Fort Custer National Cemetery, Augusta.

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