Elmer Evart Lawes

Elmer lived his entire life in Allegan County where he graduated from Otsego High School. He then went proudly into the US Army and was stationed in Germany and in Ft. Carson, CO, where he was an Army Ranger. He was in the 1st Battalion 13th Infantry, Company 1. He went to basic training at Ft. Carson, CO, and climbed the Alps in Germany from 1955 to 1957. His daughter, Renate, who he often referred to as his little fraulein, was born in Augsburg. They lived in Ulm at the time. When he came home from Europe, he was in communications and hung wire while stationed out of Camp Grayling for six years. Elmer eventually bought a dairy farm in Hopkins and called it the Rock ‘N L. After 18 years there, he retired and drove truck for Alflen Brothers in Wayland. After some time there, he eventually went to work for the Allegan County Road Commission, from which he retired in 1998. Elmer was a regular fixture at the Allegan County Fair, where he never missed a year for 82 years in a row. Elmer was an avid fisherman and obtained a patent for a fishing reel through the US Patent Office on August 23, 1983.

Elmer was the only son of six Lawes children and is survived by his only remaining sister, Phyllis Lawes, as well as his children Renate (Jeff) Merritt of Belding, MI, Leonarda Land of Old Town, FL, and Amber (Curt) Muma of Fremont; eight grandchildren; and thirteen great-grandchildren.

Elmer’s family will greet relatives and friends from 4 - 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 at Kubiak-Cook Funeral Home, 312 North Main Street, Wayland, MI. Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 23, with an hour of visitation prior, also at Kubiak-Cook in Wayland. The family welcomes memories and messages in their guest book online at www.kubiakcookwayland.com.