Alice C. Chittenden

Alice Chittenden was a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Her life was not marked by glitz and glamour, but instead a stable and fulfilled commitment to the true bounties in life. Her family was the center of her world, and she would have devoted every moment to her grandchildren, if time allowed. In the year 1915, life was changing rapidly for Americans. Under the direction of President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. was embracing the industrial revolution while Henry Ford celebrated the completion of the one millionth Ford automobile. Although the current events were definitely exciting, Maurice Naessen and Maria VanBeisen were focusing on settling in to their new lives in the United States. They were both immigrants from Belgium, though Maria had actually only come to stay with her uncle for a while. When World War I erupted, she never returned to Belgium, but instead stayed and worked in her uncle's tavern. In the spring of 1915, the couple was anxiously awaiting the birth of their first bundle of joy. On March 1st, their daughter, Alice Celena, made her arrival into the world in Moline, Illinois. Shortly after Alice was born, Maurice left Maria and had asked his friend, Alois Bossche, to care for them. He was never heard of again. Alois did the honorable thing and became a wonderful father to Alice. He and Maria also went on to have six children together: Clara, Albert, Oscar, Irene, Donald and Shirley, and much to Alice's delight, siblings to play with. Alois worked as a farmer, and they had to move quite a bit in order to go where the work was. Although Alice attended five different schools in her academic career, she maintained "mostly A's" the entire time. Like many young girls of the time, she left school after the eleventh grade in order to help work on their farm. After some time, Alois bought some property (sight unseen) in northern Michigan. As they traveled to see the property for the first time, they got as far as Grand Rapids, Michigan, when Alice's mother said it was cold enough and they weren't going any further. So, the family settled on a farm in Grant, Michigan. In 1933, a wonderful thing happened to Alice - she met the love of her life, Harold Chittenden, whose family also owned a farm in Grant. Over the next couple of years their love for each other blossomed and they were happily married on September 21, 1935, in Grand Haven. The newlyweds spent their first few years of married life living in several different places in Ferrysburg. They later bought some property on 148th Street that had a run down old building, which was infested with bed bugs. While the couple worked on building their house, including digging the basement by hand, they lived in a tent close by. It was a long time before the house was complete, but they could proudly say they never had a mortgage and only did the improvements when they saved enough money. Aside from working on the house, Harold also maintained a full-time job at Ottawa Steel Products as a screw machine operator. Harold always insisted that Alice stay home and care for their three lovely daughters, Yvonne (1936), Kathleen (1941) and Harriet (1945). Alice was a caring and attentive mother who took an active role in every phase of her daughters' lives. From school events and activities to the PTA, Alice's was a constant support to her girls. The family took occasional vacations and trips, though they made sure to make time for visiting both sides of their family, alternating weekends for dinner. Alice was a very talented seamstress, and after her girls were older, she began taking in sewing projects from outside the home. Through the years, she made many elegant wedding and bridesmaids dresses as well as did alterations. Alice also enjoyed knitting and crocheting. Often times when she and Harold were coming back from their winter in Florida, they stopped at all the best yarn shops along the way, filling the car to the brim with new knitting projects. After Harold retired, the couple began to travel more extensively, and visited places like California, Missouri and Canada. One year, the couple crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a trip to Belgium to meet some of Alice's long lost relatives. Sadly, in 1985, Harold became very sick with cancer and other ailments, and ended his own life. Alice was deeply heartbroken after 50 years of marriage. In her more leisure time, Alice enjoyed raising African Violets, and was in an African Violet Club. She was also an avid reader and a member of Friends of the Spring Lake Library, and she loved doing "hard" crossword puzzles. She wore out three dictionaries doing them over the years. Later, Alice joined the Seniors Group at Crockery Township Hall and truly enjoyed their activities together. At the age of 85, Alice pursued getting her high school diploma, and took classes, including for computers, at Spring Lake adult education. She went on to earn her diploma and even spoke at her graduation, a truly proud moment for Alice. Above all else, Alice was happiest spending time with her loved ones, especially her precious grandchildren. She gladly babysat whenever possible, and enjoyed teaching her grandkids all kinds of card games, like cribbage and pinochle. For each of them, Alice lovingly made a special afghan, and other homemade treasures like dolls or stuffed monkeys. A few years ago, Alice moved to the North Ottawa Care Center, where she came to enjoy the Center's many activities. Her favorite was the bingo table, where she some times won quarters to spend on herself. Alice died peacefully on Friday, December 8, 2006. She will be deeply missed, yet frequently remembered. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a memory of Alice or sign her online guestbook.