Marguerite Ellen Kaweck

Marguerite Ellen Laansma Kaweck of Ann Arbor Michigan died peacefully at the age of 93 at Hillside Terrace Retirement Community on November 9, 2022. Marguerite was preceded in death by her parents Robert E. and Doris (Boynton) Lamb, her brothers Elliot Lamb and Edwin Lamb, her husband Dale Kaweck, and her former husband John Laansma. She is survived by her children, Caryl (Laansma) Burke and her husband Michael of Dexter Michigan, Jane (Laansma) Hayward and her husband Dana of Oscoda Michigan, and David and JoEllen (Mills) Laansma of Broomfield Colorado. She is also survived by her grandchildren; Caryn Burke, Lyssa Dujic, Kristopher Laansma, Sarah Burke, and Aimee (Laansma) Shaughnessy; and great-grandchildren; Brightly, Wilder, and Fern Laansma, Adeline Shaughnessy, and Adrian Dujic. Marguerite was born the youngest of three children in West Boyleston Massachusetts and grew up in Grosse Pointe Michigan. She was a graduate of Kalamazoo College and the University of Michigan and was passionate about her work as an elementary school teacher in Carman School District and Houghton Lake School District. She worked to secure a fair wage for teachers, who were mostly women at that time, while serving as a teachers’ union representative. She was clear her children could be anything they wanted to be, especially the girls, and helped motivate each of them to do exactly that. Family was very important to her, and she moved to Florida to support her parents at the end of their lives. Marguerite enjoyed music, walking in the woods, canoeing, birdwatching, ice cream, and had a great sense of humor. A lecturer for Weight Watchers, she was a wonderful cook and was always talking about what was for dinner while eating lunch. She was famous among her friends later in life for her singing and her jokes. A gathering to celebrate her life will be held at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor Michigan on March 18, 2023 from 2-4 pm. Memorial contributions may be made to Humane Society of Huron Valley (3100 Cherry Hill Road 48105) or Elara Caring Hospice Foundation (PO Box 58 Jackson Michigan 49204.)