http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS Thursday, October 10, 2024 17
Alex Jay
Henckel, 40,
of East Leroy,
died Monday,
Sept. 30, 2024,
in Bronson
Methodist
Hospital in
Kalamazoo,
Mich., after
being diag-
nosed with lung cancer in early July.
The family will host a memorial
service on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024,
at 2 p.m. at Southern Oak Kennels,
2546 O Drive South, East Leroy,
MI 49051. It will immediately be fol-
lowed by a celebration of life gather-
ing. Guests are welcome to come
for either or both. The entire event
will be very casual and guests are
invited to wear whatever they would
wear to sit around a campfire with
Alex. There will be a limited amount
of seating. There will be food avail-
able, but only water and lemonade
for drinks, so guests are invited to
bring lawn chairs and their own bev-
erages. The family is being served
by Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation
in Union City.
Alex was born Nov. 19, 1983, to
Mike and Judi (Pidcock) Henckel
of Athens, Mich., and lived in the
Athens/East Leroy area his entire
life. When he was around 7 years
old, a brother of one of his friends
nicknamed him Skinny, and it stuck.
Legions of friends only knew him as
Skinny, and many family members
eventually only called him Skinny,
much to his mother’s chagrin.
Alex graduated from Athens High
School in 2002, and attended the
Calhoun Area Technology Center,
where he studied welding. He
attended one year at Ferris State
University, where he was enrolled inthe Welding Engineering program.
In 2006, Alex met Ashley Doty,
who became the love of his life.
They married on June 16, 2017.
They were blessed with two sons,
Landen Jay (8) and Lincoln Joseph
(3).
Alex worked at Duncan Aviation
for nearly 20 years in the paint
department, then moved on to
Waco Aviation for two years where
he was the paint department man-
ager. In 2022, he left the aviation
industry to take a job at Swarthout
Excavating that was more in line
with how he wanted to live his life
and to work for someone for whom
he had deep respect and friendship.
It turned out to be one of the best
decisions of his life because from
the first days of his illness until his
last day on Earth, the Swarthout
family loved and supported him as
if he was born into their family, both
emotionally and financially.
That love and support was echoed
by so many family members, friends
who are like family, co-workers and
community members that it would
be impossible to list them all. For
his entire life, Alex cultivated friends
by the hundreds through just being
himself. He was always kind, lov-
ing and supportive to everyone he
encountered and that spirit, along
with his genuine smile, turned
acquaintances into friends every-
where he went.
In recent months, as many friends,
co-workers and community mem-
bers have been sharing their memo-
ries of Alex with his family, hundreds
of them expressed that they intend
to live their own lives “just as Skinny
did,” with genuine care and concern
for others, backed up by actions
that showed his love, not just empty
words.Alex’s first love was always his
family and friends, but he also had
a love of adventure and a passion
for living life in the moment. He may
have only lived for 40 years, but he
packed hundreds of years of life into
those short years. In his early years,
he was a legend to his siblings,
cousins and kids in the neighbor-
hood for always being the gutsy one
to jump his bike over any obstacle,
snowboard off the roof of the barn
into a pile of snow or a million other
stunts that terrified his mother and
made his dad secretly proud.
He spent many years dedicated
to racing motocross and riding
nearly every track and trail in lower
Michigan. He was a gifted athlete
who enjoyed high jumping in track
and playing on the golf team. He
participated in other sports, but
mostly so he could be part of the
team, because individual acco-
lades never meant as much to him
as being a valued member of any
group.
As a child, he grew to love hunting
and fishing by going with his dad,
grandpa and uncle, who shared
their love for the outdoors. One
of his favorite times of every year
was going to the family cabin in the
Upper Peninsula for deer camp,
which he started doing at age 14.
As he grew into a man, he devel-
oped a passion for hunting ducks
and geese with his “crew” of bud-
dies. He was the self-designated
squadron commander and cook,
often consulting with his mom to
discuss the best way to cook with
cast iron in a duck blind.
He was devoted to his entire
family, insisting on keeping every
family tradition, such as still having
Christmas mornings at home with
his mom, dad and siblings, plusall of the sisters, brothers, nieces
and nephews that were added as
our family grew. He loved playing
baseball in the backyard on Easter
Sunday and watching the Spartans,
Tigers, Lions and Red Wings games
together, cheering out loud. But his
favorite way to spend his time was
with his sons and his wife, just lov-
ing them deeply and sharing the
d ay.
Alex is survived by his wife,
Ashley; his sons, Landen and
Lincoln; parents Mike and Judi
Henckel; grandparents Kay Pidcock,
Terry and Kevin Henckel; broth-
ers Justin (Ericka) Henckel and
Dylan (Megahn) Henckel; sister
Kelly (Dan) Manson; parents-in-
law Jon and Linda Doty; brothers-
in-law Richie (Shanna) Warren,
Steven (Jennie) Doty, James (Danni
Heddinger) Doty, Wate (Chelsea )
Doty; aunts Sandy (Jeff) Slayton,
Connie (Dave) Neill, Colleen (Keith
Swank); uncles John (Melissa)
Pidcock, Seth (Joanna) Henckel; as
well as many nieces, nephews and
cousins, each of whom was dear to
him.
He was preceded in death by his
grandpa John “Jack” Pidcock; his
grandmother Nancy Henckel Smith;
and his dogs, Marley and Ziggy.
Memorial donations can be sent
to the family by Venmo at https://
account.venmo.com/u/alexhenckelfu
nd?catchAll=u&catchAll=alexhencke
lfund or to https://www.givetopeople.
org/henckel-fund.html.
Floral gifts may be delivered to the
Southern Oaks Kennels property
between the hours of 7 a.m. and 2
p.m. on Saturday and anytime after
7 a.m. on Sunday.
Please visit http://www.lighthousefuner-
al.com to share memories, pictures
and videos with the family.David Louis
Putman, 80, of
Battle Creek,
Mich., passed
away Monday,
Sept. 23, 2024,
with family by
his side.
David was
born Oct. 11,
1943, in Battle
Creek, Mich., the son of Willard
“Gatiss” and Alice (Jones) Putman.
David graduated from Battle Creek
Central High School and then joined
the Navy. David worked for Kellogg
Company for 47 years. While at
Kellogg, he transferred from Battle
Creek, Mich., to Omaha, Neb.,
in 1995, where he continued his
career at the plant and retired in
2012.
David had several hobbies, includ-
ing ham radio, computers, camping
and playing cards with friends. He
enjoyed going to the movie theatrewith his wife, Karen. David was a
very caring man, always willing to
help his friends and family.
David is survived by his wife,
Karen (Rose) Putman; his son,
Gerald Putman (Sherry Keifer);
stepsons Kevin (Michelle)
Bellingham, Stephen (Rachel)
Bellingham; grandson Nicholas
Putman; brother Robert (Elaine)
Putman; many nieces, nephews,
friends; and several grandnieces
and nephews.David was preceded in death by
his parents, Willard “Gatiss” and
Alice (Jones) Putman; his brother
Willard “Bill” Putman; sister-in-law
Patricia Putman; two nephews; and
one grandnephew.
Services to be held in Battle
Creek, Mich., at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, tributes can be
made in David’s name to a veteran’s
charity of your choice.