Page 4/The Sun and News, Saturday, June 12, 2021
council in the past that the
village property was not for
sale,” said Erskine, whomade the motion to reject any
sale of the property.
In a memo to the Village
Council, Thornton wrote that,
during development of Glen
Valley in the mid-1990s, “the
village had anticipated devel-
opment of areas of the farm
and, in the site plan for the
Glen Valley commercial dis-
trict, agreed to an access of
the village property from
North Rodgers Court.”
In 2016, Metro Health
attempted to purchase the vil-
lage’s access to the property
but was unsuccessful, accord-
ing to Thornton’s memo.
The nearly 115-acre vil-
lage property north of Glen
Valley includes the Caledonia
wastewater plant, which is
owned by the village but is
operated by Caledonia
Township.
The portion of the property
where the plant is located was
not part of the purchase pro-
posal.Burghdoffs to celebrate
50th wedding anniversary
Dan and Darla (Walton) Burghdoff will be celebrating
their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married in
Freeport on June 24, 1971.
They have two daughters, Sara LaVair and Angela
Raulston. They have six grandchildren and four great-
grandchildren.
Anyone wishing to send cards may send them to 6587
Wood School Rd., Freeport, MI 49325.
Harold John Gless, age 94,
of Caledonia, passed away
on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
He was preceded in death
by his parents, Clare and
Nora; wife, Phyllis Jane
Gless; brothers and sisters-
in-law, Emmett and Bette
Gless, Gerald and Marjorie
Gless, Richard and Phyllis
Gless; sister, Mary Claire
Gless; special niece, Kathy
Jackson.
He is survived by his son,
James and fiancée Kristen
Lazarski; grandchildren,
Sarah and Josh Donker,
Nathan and Amy Gless,
Mary and Steve Kaiser;
mother of his grandchildren,
Lynn Gless; great
grandchildren, Hayden and
Emmett Donker, Delanie,
Anna, Gavin Gless, Tyler,
Lilly, and Dillon Kaiser;
sisters-in-law, Cecilia
Patterson, Ruth Debrie;
special friend, Barbara Scott;
many wonderful nieces and
nephews.
Harold was a life-long
resident of Caledonia and
very active in his
community. He served in
the U.S. Army during the
Korean War. He retired as
president of State Bank of
Caledonia after 46 years of
employment.
Harold was a founding
member of St. Mary
Magdalene Parish as well as
Holy Family Parish, Charter
Member of Caledonia
American Legion Post 305,and a member of Caledonia
Lions Club.
He looked forward to his
Tuesday afternoon get-
togethers with a few of his
good friends.
Mass of Christian Burial
will be held 11 a.m. Monday,
June 14, 2021 at Holy
Family Catholic Church,
9669 Kraft SE, Caledonia,
with Rev. Phil Shangraw
officiating. Burial St.
Patrick’s Cemetery.
Relatives and friends may
meet the family Sunday,
June 13 from 2-4 and 6-
p.m. at Matthysse Kuiper
DeGraaf Funeral Home, 616
E. Main St. SE, Caledonia
with a prayer service at 7
p.m.
Those who wish may
make memorial
contributions to Holy Family
Catholic Church or the
American Legion Post 305.
Condolences may be sent
online at http://www.
mkdfuneralhome.com.Harold Gless
Charles Theodore Smith,
Sr., age 80, passed away at
his home in Coopersville,
Friday, May 28, 2021.
Chuck was born in Custer,
to the late Percy and Helen
(Buckley) Smith.
In addition to his parents
he was preceded in death by
his wife, Alice Smith in July
of 2019, son Timothy Percy
Smith in July of 1988, one
brother and seven sisters.
Chuck worked as a
mechanic at Meijer in their
auto center and as a hi-low
mechanic in their
distribution center until he
retired. After his retirement
and needing something to do
he took a job in residential
construction for several
years.
He enjoyed spending time
with his family and
grandchildren and could
always be called on to lend
his help and knowledge.
He will be deeply missed
by his son Charles Theodore
“JR” Smith Jr.; stepchildren,
Carl (Amy) Brown, Chuck
(Deanna) Brown and Hillary
(Bryan) Kraak;
grandchildren, Marissa
Smith, Jennifer (Brandon)Schon and Nathan (Cassie)
Brown; great grandchildren,
Claire Smith and Nolan and
Cameron Schon; many
nieces and nephews.
In keeping with his wish
cremation has taken place.
Visitation will be held 12
noon-1 p.m. Friday, June 25,
2021 at the Throop Funeral
Home, 214 Church St,
Coopersville with a
Memorial Service at 1 p.m.
Friday following the
visitation. Interment will be
at Maple Hill Cemetery in
Cadillac, MI.
Condolences may be left
on his tribute wall at http://www.
throopfh.com.Charles Theodore Smith Sr.
Area Obituaries
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Briggs Rd. was built.
“We were [meeting] in a
little old farmhouse that was
right next door,” township
planning commissioner Frank
Fiala said.
Biggs also was instrumen-
tal in the development of
water and sewer service to
the township, the establish-
ment of local zoning proce-
dures, and extension of natu-
ral gas and cable service to
Yankee Springs. Biggs is
quick to credit Downing for
his leadership in making
these developments happen.
“We were a team. Andy
Downing was the man really
responsible for creating a lot
of these things,” he said.
“Whenever we brought
something up, that question
was always asked, ‘what do
you think?’ That way we had
a good feeling about every-
thing that [was proposed].”
“I was just part of the
team,” Biggs added.
As clerk, Biggs was
responsible for elections in
the township. In the begin-
ning, ballots were still count-
ed by hand. But not long into
his tenure, the township got
its first voting machines, he
said.
After leaving the board in
1980, Biggs continued to stay
active in township affairs. He
worked with the Gun Lake
Area Sewer Authority from
1981-83. He was involvedwith the zoning board and
election boards from 1983-
89, and served on the Zoning
Board of Appeals from 1990
to 2016.Finally, Biggs was elected
township constable in 2016,
serving in that capacity, deal-
ing with routine inspections,
for four years until his retire-
ment at the end of last year.
“He hopes that he has con-
tributed to the community he
so dearly loves and is proud
to have helped make Yankee
Springs Township what it is
today,” said Jeannie ten Haaf,
Biggs’ daughter.
Biggs owned and operated
Chuck’s Bait Shop from 1957
to 1982.
On Wednesday, Biggs cel-
ebrated his 65th wedding
anniversary with his wife,
Nancy. The couple has four
children, 10 grandchildren
and 14 great-grandchildren.SERVICE, continued from page 1
OFFER, continued from page 1
be increased annually using
the Consumer Price Index as
the percentage to be
increased, Village President
Jennifer Lindsey said.
As part of the agreement,
CFE will undertake improve-
ments to the space it is leas-
ing. The village must approve
the plans and specifications
of those improvements.
The village has agreed to
issue back, as a credit,
$40,000 of improvements,
which would be spread out
over four years. For example,
after the first $10,000 credit
is applied, the co-op would
end up paying the village
$24,200 in the first year of
the lease, Lindsey said.CFE would be moving into
space that was occupied by
Caledonia Township from
when the hall was first built
from 1992 until 2010, when
the township moved into its
present offices at 8196
Broadmoor Ave. SE. In
September 2019, the village
bought out the township’s
ownership share of the
Village Hall for $175,000.
The co-op would be
allowed to use the village’s
meeting room no more than
twice a month, for a total of
four hours each, with prior
permission of the village,
according to the lease docu-
ment.LEASE, continued from page 1
“We were all gravel
roads out here
at that time. There
was no modern
(services). That time
(the late 1960s)
is when everything
started developing.”
Chuck Biggs