Alison Louise Taggart

Mason, Michigan

Alison L. Taggart was born on October 30th, 1942 in Muskegon, Michigan to Virginia and Franklin Lundell. She passed away peacefully in her home in Mason, Michigan on December 22, 2014. Alison was the eldest of five children. Her early years were spent on White Lake, outside Whitehall, Michigan. She began her education in a one room schoolhouse overlooking White Lake and graduated from Whitehall High School with the Class of 1960. During her high school years she received a number of awards as a flautist and continued to play the flute through most of her adult life. She received an Associate degree from Muskegon Community College and went on to earn a BA in Elementary Teaching from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 1965.

After teaching in Michigan and Colorado, she enrolled in a graduate program in Reading Instruction at Michigan State University and received her Master’s Degree in 1968. During her graduate studies she met and married a fellow graduate student, Ralph E. Taggart, who was working on his Ph.D. Ralph, was later offered a position at Michigan State and the couple committed to life in the Greater Lansing area. Alison had taught in the Lansing School District toward the end of her graduate program, marking the start of what was to be a forty year career with the District, first as a Reading Specialist and, for the last twelve years, a Second Grade Teacher at Post Oak School. Her most notable student in her early years was Ervin “Magic” Johnson. She was a kind, gracious, and effective teacher who was loved and respected by generations of students, parents, and fellow teachers and administrators.

She was active in the American Association of University Women and the Junior League of Lansing, as well as serving as an ordained Elder and Church School teacher at the Okemos Presbyterian Church. The family moved to Mason in 1976, where she continued her church school teaching at the First Presbyterian Church of Mason, also serving on the Session, the Board of Deacons, and numerous committees. She was elected to two terms on the Mason City Council as well as serving on a number of local commissions and boards. Her other community involvements included the Mason Orchestral Society, the Mason Historical Society, the Mason College Club, the Delta Kappa Gamma teaching sorority, and, most recently, the Lansing Women’s Club. She enjoyed travel, entertaining, and time spent at the family cottage on White Lake, but particularly loved the quality time with her three daughters and their husbands, and as “Nana” to her three grandchildren. She was also a stalwart, loyal, and compassionate friend. She bravely faced three battles with cancer in the course of her life. The final battle could not be won, but she “kept calm and carried on”, an inspiration to everyone around her – an exemplar of love, faith, kindness, and a life well-lived.

Alison is survived by Ralph, her husband of 46 years; her three daughters and their husbands, Jennifer Wilson (Tim) of Mason, Heather Clark (Slade) of Mason, and Molly Cunningham (Jeremy) of Charlotte; three grandchildren, Tori Alonge, Alison Waggoner, and Colton Wilson; her four Whitehall siblings and their spouses; Lee Dickenson (Jerry), Frank Lundell (Rita), John Lundell (Mary), and Marjie Smith (Mark); sisters-in-law Susan Goodreds (Jack) of Del Ray Beach, Florida, and Bonnie DeRose of Vero Beach, Florida; and a number of cousins, nieces, and nephews.

There will be a memorial service in celebration of her life on Saturday, January 3, 2015 at the First Presbyterian Church of Mason (131 E. Maple Street, Mason, MI) at 11:00 AM. The family will receive visitors starting at 6:00 P.M. on Friday, January 2, 2015 at the Church. The service will be followed by a luncheon at the Community Building on the Ingham County Fairgrounds. Interment will be in the family plot in Mason’s Maple Grove Cemetery in a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Mason, the Scholarship Fund of the Mason College Club, McLaren Hospice, or to a charity of your choice.

The family is being served by the Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Ball Dunn Chapel, Mason, Michigan. On-line condolences may be made at www.grbdmason.com