Merle Mccauley

Merle McCauley was a strong, supportive woman, who always did whatever she could for the people around her. She was a very pleasant person, who always found lifes silver lining, no matter the hurdles or hardship she faced. Merle was a dedicated wife, and a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Most of all, she was a great lady with a good life, a life we were blessed to have shared. Merles story began on a warm summer day in 1916, way up in the tiny logging town of Perronville, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Those were tumultuous times around the globe, as the terrible battles of World War I raged on, but life continued as normal in the little lumber town of Perronville. On September 5, 1916, a pair of French-Canadian immigrants named Charles and Hattie (Vincent) Paradise celebrated the birth of a beautiful baby girl, a daughter they named Merle Margaret. Merles father was a blacksmith, who followed the loggers from town to town. Merles mother sadly died when she was just a year old, so Merle was really raised by her older sisters. She was next to the last of 11 children born to the large family, and according to records, she was just the 66th birth in Menominee County, since they began keeping records. Its good they kept a record, too, because her family celebrated her birthday on the 11th, rather than the fifth! When they saw the birth certificate, they kept celebrating on the 11th, anyway. Merle had a good childhood, and loved to play in the nearby creek as a girl. The family moved around a bit when she was growing up, and eventually settled in Manistique, where she attended elementary and junior high school. The family attended St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church there, too. She was very close to her siblings, and later her nieces and nephews, who because of their ages, were more like siblings to her. Like so many young women of her generation, Merle left school after the eighth grade, ready to work full-time to help her family. Money was tight in those days, and material goods were sparse in the family home, but they always made do. Merle loved to fish and being on the water. When she was a teenager, Merle went to work at Barneys, a local mom & pop grocery store in Manistique. She also began to take notice of the handsome young man who lived across the street from them, named Daniel Ulysus McCauley. Daniel came from a sailing family, and even spent a few years working on the oar boats and freighters around the Great Lakes. When he returned home, he began to notice the beautiful young Merle, too, and they began dating. It wasnt long before they had fallen in love, and were married on Christmas Eve, 1941, in Manistique. Daniel was a talented writer and journalist, and he and Merle moved around a bit following his careers climb. He worked at papers in Chicago, Erie, PA, and then down South in Louisiana. Their stay down South was short-lived, however, as the bugs (cockroaches, in particular) were too much for them. So they returned to Michigan, where Merles husband eventually became the City Editor of the Muskegon Chronicle. The couple settled into their new home nicely, and became members of St. Jeans Catholic Church in Muskegon. They also became parents, with the birth of their only child, a son they named Daniel Gerard. Merle loved being a mother, and devoted her life to caring for her husband and son. The family did much together, and shared so many wonderful times at Lake Michigan. Merle loved boating, and they went sailing, or took their 16-foot speedboat out on the Big Lake, roaring across the waves, as Daniel laughed all the way. Their picnic lunches on the beach next to the channel were always special, as well. Merle was a wonderful homemaker, and an amazing cook, as well, a true magician in the kitchen, conjuring delicious meals from thin air. She was the classic, old-fashioned cook, never using measuring cups and rarely recipes. Her chicken-n-dumplings dinner was always a crowd-pleaser. Merle also kept an immaculate home, and despite her near-constant cleaning, it never seemed to live up to her lofty expectations! Most of all, she was a truly devoted wife and mother. When little Daniel played baseball, Merle never missed a game, and had her lawn chairs at the ready at all times. She loved baseball, and followed the Detroit Tigers religiously most of her life, but she couldnt bear to watch Dans contact sports. In the late 1950s, the family suffered a terrible loss, when Daniel died at a young age. Suddenly a widowed homemaker mother, Merle picked herself up and went to work as a clerk at the Yankee Store in Muskegon, which later became the K-Mart. That was Merle, though, no matter the hurdles or hardships she faced, she was always willing to do whatever she had to do for her family. Merle worked at the K-Mart for 20 years, taking her well-deserved retirement in 1987 at the age of 70. She truly enjoyed her retirement, and enjoyed going to the casinos and playing the slots with her nephew and his wife, feeding the one-armed bandit her nickels and quarters. She also adored her grandkids, and took them for the night quite frequently over the years. When her great-grandchildren arrived, they truly put a sparkle in her eye. Merle unfortunately broke her hip on December 27, 2007 and had surgery on the 28th. Two weeks later she was transferred from her assisted living facility to the nursing center. Sadly, a full recovery wasnt meant to be, and Merle died at the nursing center on Monday, August 18, 2008, at the age of 91. Merle was such a strong, supportive woman, who always did whatever she could for the people around her. No matter the hardships or the hurdles she faced, Merle always found lifes silver lining. She was a dedicated wife, and a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, a great lady and a better example. She will be greatly missed. Merle is survived by her son, Daniel (Rebecca) McCauley of Muskegon; grandchildren, Elizabeth (Robert Kersting) McCauley, Emily (John) Bozik, Derek McCauley, Daniel McCauley; great grandchildren, Heidi Kersting, Lorelei Kersting, Capitola Rose Bozik; sister-in-law, Lila Paradise. She was preceded in death by her husband, Daniel; brothers, Floyd, Orville, Lawrence, Wallace, Stanley; sisters, Stella Weldon, Lillian St. John, Maude Carefell, Marie Winsor, Lorraine Paradise. Services are scheduled for Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 3:00 PM with visitation 1 hour prior to the service at Clock Chapel with Fr. Norman Droski officiating. Memorial donations may be made to Hackley VNS Hospice. 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