Timothy John McElhone

Timothy (Tim) John McElhone was born on August 19, 1955 in Dearborn, Michigan to Charles and Virginia (Crane) McElhone. He was the “wisest” and oldest son of his ten siblings. Throughout his childhood he lived in Riverview, Michigan; Vermillion, Ohio; and Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Benedictine High School in 1973 in Detroit, Michigan. On August 23, 1980, he married Christine Greider in Mendon, Michigan. They welcomed three children: Mary Margaret (Meg) on April 25, 1982; Adam Timothy on August 13, 1983; and Abigail (Abby) Shannon on February 19, 1985. His children were the apple of his eyes (he had cataracts).

In 1980, Tim and Christine moved to Madison, Wisconsin where Tim began working for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as an IT specialist. He continued his career within the USGS by transferring to Anchorage, Alaska; Tucson, Arizona; Brownsburg, Indiana; and finally settling in Lansing, Michigan. In 2014, Tim retired from the USGS one month shy of 35 years as the IT Site Administrator.

The family home was established in 1996 in Mason, Michigan and he appreciated the small town life. Tim enjoyed community service including ReBuilding Together, Habitat for Humanity, and the Mason Holiday Light Parade Committee.

His hobbies included gardening (especially planting sunflowers with his niece, Grace), NASA and outerspace, re-reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Googling road signs, hating Alex Trebek while loving Jeopardy, getting ice cream at the Daily Scoop, and taking “short-cuts” on road trips. Some of his favorite traveling adventures included visiting all 50 states, Ireland and Jamaica.

Tim died on May 26, 2019, at home after a long illness. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Christine; his daughters, Meg and Abby; his in-laws, Sherman and MaryAnn Greider; his siblings, Kathleen (Mark) Sedgeman, Beth McElhone, Dennis (Patricia) McElhone, Michael McElhone, Susan McElhone, William (Leona) Gould-McElhone, James (Melissa) McElhone, Amy (Patrick) Neville, John McElhone, Sherman Jr. (MaryAnn) Greider, Gayle (Daniel) Green, Gary (Sheryl) Greider and Gregg Greider; his Godchildren, Magdalen Glass, Samantha DeVries and Katherine McElhone; near children, Rebecca (Micky) Brazaski, Anthony (Dawn) Lambert, Michael Flood, Brandy Culver, Claudia Place and Tina Thompson; four grandchildren, Samantha, Gavin, Allison Brazaski and Caidra Vandyke; 27 nieces and nephews and 26 great-nieces and nephews (with an additional expected in November). He is preceded in death by his son, Adam Timothy; his parents, Charles and Virginia; his sisters, Nancy McElhone and Nancy Greider; his brother, Denis Jordan; his nephew, Charlie Jordan; and Goddaughter, Heidi White.

The family would give special thanks to: Steven, Barbara, and Samuel VanDyke, Rose McGowan-Mix, Rex Hauser, theresa rohlck and Hospice of Lansing.

The visitation will be held at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes East Chapel located at 1730 E. Grand River Avenue, East Lansing, Michigan 48823 on May 31, 2019 from 5pm – 8pm. The memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing located at 5509 S. Pennsylvania Avenue, Lansing, Michigan 48911 on June 1, 2019 at 11am.

Following the memorial service, please join the family for a potluck luncheon. At Tim’s request there will be no lists or coordination of the dishes to be served. The family will provide the main course, beverages and cake. Please bring your favorite dish to pass.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Manna Community Meal which is co-managed by Tim’s lifelong friend, Marianne Arbogast. This may be done online or mailed to 1050 Porter, Detroit, Michigan 48226. At Christine’s request, if you choose to ignore the in lieu of request, please do not send plants.