16 Thursday, July 11, 2024 BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com
Marilyn Elaine
(Heady) Davis-
Neubert joined
her Savior Jesus
Christ in heaven
Friday morning,
July 5, 2024, at
the age of 86,
after a long and
courageous battle
with dementia.
Marilyn was
born September
19, 1937, to
Howard and
Marguerite
(Bloomquist)
Heady in
Cadillac, MI, and
grew up in the
Cadillac area
(having also lived
part of her child-
hood in Oregon),
graduating from
Cadillac High
School in 1955.
She worked for
J.C. Penney Co. as a window decorator
and putting together advertisements before
marrying her first husband, Kenneth D.
Davis, on November 23, 1957, moving to
Battle Creek. Together they had four chil-
dren, Dawn (Bud) Sellen of Battle Creek,
Dan (Sandi) Davis of Bellevue, Dana Perry
(deceased April 2004) and Dyan Davis of
Battle Creek. Being a stay-at-home mom,
raising her children and many others that
she loved and cared for, she went on to
work at Bill Knapp’s Commissary from
1983-90, making many lifelong friendships.
After 42 years of marriage, Ken prede-
ceased her January 1, 2000.
On April 25, 2004, Marilyn married
Bernard Neubert, enjoying nearly 18 years
together wintering in Florida where they
enjoyed hosting family and friends who
could come visit, Bible studies and ringing
bells for the Salvation Army at Christmas.
Their marriage brought in more children,
Terry Neubert, Debbie (Rod) Beers and
Mike (Linda) Neubert, and numerous
grandchildren and great-grandchildren to
love and adore.
Marilyn was very artistic with painting
and doing ceramics, sewing, knitting, cro-
cheting, and was brilliant at playing word
and number board games. She loved hav-ing friends and family over for picnics, pool
parties and baptisms at the pool and any
get-together to share a meal. A very much
people person always ready to smile and
give hugs. She always said she wanted a
hundred children, and with each person
she hugged, they became another one of
her kids, so we are quite sure she exceed-
ed her goal. With such a love of babies,
she also was a volunteer counselor at the
Crisis Pregnancy Center for many years.
Along with her children, Marilyn is
survived by her brother, James (Judy)
Heady of Manton; brother-in-law Dwane
(Rosemary) Davis of Lansing; son-in-law
Eric (Kari) Perry of Hastings; grandchildren
Nick (Mary) Sellen, Erica (Eric) James,
Ben Sellen, Bryan (Tabitha) Davis, Brad
Davis, Anthony (Taylor) Martin, Derick
Perry, Hannah (Sean) Tobin, Jake (Ellie)
Perry, Jon Perry, Karrly (Kevin) Stansbery,
Kenady (Jared) Multer, Kabe Sykora; and
more babies to love on were her greats,
Reese, Presley, Dawson, Eric Jr., Maddie,
Beckham, Finnleigh, Adam, Dylan, Maya,
Rage, Renvy and Rush; and several niec-
es and nephews.
Besides her parents, husbands and
daughter, she was also predeceased byan infant sister, Mary Elizabeth Heady,
at birth; grandson R. Shawn Martin; sis-
ter- in- law, Kathaleen (Katie) Button; and
stepdaughter-in-law Barb Neubert.
The family wishes to say a special thank
you to the staff at Lakeview Assisted Living
for their love, care and compassion they
gave to Marilyn (Grandma) and to her fam-
ily as she lived in her final earthly home
there these past six years.
Though she will be missed much by
those of us who are still here, we rejoice
with her of where she is.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests
donations be made to Cornerstone
Community Church.
Visitation will take place at Kempf
Funeral Home in Battle Creek on
Thursday, July 11, 2024, from 4-8 p.m.
Celebration of Life will take place at
Cornerstone Community Church on Friday,
July 12, with
11 a.m. visi-
tation prior
to the noon
service.Jan Kingery
Clingenpeel
passed from
this life to eter-
nal life on July
5, 2024. Born
in Logansport,
Indiana, on
November 3,
1946, he was
the only living
child of Gus and
Betty (Kingery)
Clingenpeel.
He spoke fondly about his childhood on
the family farm between Russiaville and
Burlington, IN. He spent his childhood
playing in the barn, hunting in the fields
and woods and fishing in the creek. In
high school, he played football and base-
ball, earning the Scholastic Honor Roll
Athletic Award. He also had the lead
in the musical plays “Anything Goes”
and “Meet Me in St. Louis” and was
Homecoming King and president of his
junior and senior class. It was during his
high school days that Kingery was called
to ministry and attended and graduated
from Kentucky Christian University in
1969.
He then moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to
attend Lincoln Christian Seminary. It was
there he met the love of his life, Laura
(Baker), in 1970. Kingery studied one
semester in Strasbourg, France. After
graduating with a Master of Divinity
degree in 1973, Kingery enrolled in Phillips
Graduate Seminary in Enid, OK, study-
ing for his Doctor of Ministry. During this
time, he served as minister of the Avard
Christian Church. He then served as
associate minister at Southwest Christian
Church in OK City. It was during this
ministry that Kingery and Laura became
engaged. Wanting to be closer to Laura
and his family, he accepted a call to
the Kouts Indiana Christian Church in
November 1974 and enrolled at Northern
Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard,
Illinois.
Kingery and Laura were married July
26, 1975, and settled into the parsonage
in Kouts for a 13-year ministry. Kingery
earned his Doctor of Ministry Degree in- During this ministry, the church had
an all-time record attendance of 303. It
was during the years in Kouts that children
Rebekah and Caleb were born. Kingery
served as chaplain and treasurer of Kouts
Volunteer Fire Dept. He also became a
licensed pilot. He served as dean of First
Chance Camp at Lake Region Christian
Assembly for many years and coached
baseball and softball teams for Rebekah
and Caleb.
In 1987, the family was called to serve
Central Christian Church in Battle Creek,
Michigan. This ministry lasted 10 years
and saw the construction of a new church
building. This building became debt-free
in seven years. At the conclusion of this
ministry, the family moved to Edwardsburg,
MI, where Kingery qualified in investments
and 401k accounts. He passed Series 6,
65, 3 and 7.
Four years later, the family moved back
to Battle Creek when Laura’s teaching
job became full time. Kingery accepted
the call of First Christian Church, where
he would serve for the next 20 years. He
concluded 50 years of full-time pulpit min-
istry in December 2019. Fremont Christian
Church asked for him to become their
interim minister, which he did for one year.
Kingery enjoyed many outdoor hobbies,
including hunting and fishing. He was a
licensed pilot, Advance Master Gardener
through MSU, North Country Trail Adopter,
and Appalachian Mountain Club member.
For two different summers he did trail con-
struction in Acadia National Park in Maine.
He volunteered for Picture Perfect in BC,
where inner city children got to experi-
ence hiking in the woods and taking pho-
tos of wildlife. In 2011, he was asked by
President Jimmy Carter to give the open-
ing prayer for his Sunday School class in
Plains, Georgia.
Kingery loved the mountains. During
his life, he climbed 65 mountains, from Mt.
Healy in Denali National Park, Alaska, to
Cadillac Mountain and Katahdin in Maine,
to Mt. Washington in NH. He was espe-
cially proud of summiting Mt. Washington
seven times. His last summit was justbefore his 66th birthday. For his 70th
birthday, he hired a guide to take him rock
climbing in Red Rock Canyon Recreation
Area near Las Vegas. He also loved the
desert, visiting Death Valley National Park
and Joshua Tree National Park many
times. He was thrilled to take Laura on
hiking trips to the places he loved and
share these beautiful destinations with his
wife.
But his greatest enjoyment came from
his family: Laura, his children and grand-
children. Kingery and Laura were mar-
ried for 48 years. They were blessed with
daughter Rebekah (Aaron) of Charlotte,
MI, and son Caleb (Cara) of Brooklyn,
MI. He was Grandpa to Jacey, Dawson,
Ryleigh, Jonah, Tanner, Ellie and Eva Jan.
He loved being the “monster” to wake the
kids just after they got to sleep. He always
had a great sense of humor.
A memorial service to celebrate
Kingery’s life will be held 11 a.m.,
Thursday, July 11, 2024, at Farley Estes
Dowdle Funeral Cremation Preneed Care,
Battle Creek. The service will be live-
streamed and may be viewed at https://
vimeo.com/event/4436327.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be
directed to St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital (https://www.stjude.org/).
Personal messages for the family and
favorite memories of Kingery may be
placed at http://www.farleyestesdowdle.com.