Obituary Observations: Ethel Clemons of Haywood, Tennessee; Winter Haven, Florida; and South Haven, Michigan (1923-2011)

My great-grandmother, Ethel Clemons, was the only great-grandparent that I met on my father's side, and is one of the best remembered ancestors I have. My paternal grandmother (Ethel's daughter) was very close to her, and the rest of her family seems to have been as well. While I do not remember Ethel all that well, I definitely had a great many interactions with her. While her obituary was quite short, it does a very good job at summarizing her life. 

Transcription: 

Ethel Betz, 87, of South Haven. God called his sweetest angel home on Friday, August 4th at the South Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Community.

She was born September 26, 1923 in Brownsville, Texas to Frank and Cordie (Humpreys) Clemons. She lived most of her life in the South Haven area. Ethel worked many years at the former Bangor Electric. She was a devoted homemaker and mother. Ethel loved to travel and play board games with family and friends. Her greatest treasure was her family. Our miss Ethel was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.

She is preceded in death by her parents, two sisters and one brother.

She is survived by two daughters – Linda Casey of South Haven, Michigan and Sandy (Tony) Auippy of Florida. Four grandchildren – Brian (Amy) Winn of Holland, Greg Biggs of South Haven, Michigan, Angel (Brian) Dicken of Zeeland, Michigan and Chris Aiuppy of Houston, Texas. Five great-grandchildren and two great great grandchildren. Two sisters – Peggy Moon and Pat Dingler both of Texas.

A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. Kindly share your thoughts and memories on the family’s online guest book at www.FilbrandtFFH.com.

The family is being helped by the Filbrandt Family Funeral Home of South Haven 637-0333.

Here are some of my observations: 

• Ethel is listed with her final married name, Betz. She was divorced from my great-grandfather, John Washington Winn Jr., sometime around 1967, due to his infidelity. She eventually remarried to Edward Betz, who had served in the Navy. Although my paternal grandmother remembers him quite well, I have never seen a picture of him and know nothing else about him besides that he served in the Navy. 
• The place of death is listed, the South Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Community in South Haven, Van Buren County, Michigan. 
• While the 26th of September is listed as her date of birth, and that is the day she celebrated it as, she was actually born on the 21st of September. The reason for the discrepancy? The family didn't file her birth until the 26th. Due to being born in very rural Tennessee, the Clemons family probably lived very far from the appropriate place to register her birth. Still, I find it odd that she celebrated her birthday as the 26th. 
• The obituary includes a very glaring error- she was actually born in Tennessee, not Texas. If she had been born in Brownsville, Texas, I would have wondered if Ethel was partially Tejano. In fact, when I first began researching my ancestry and found this obituary, that was my suspicion, until a quick conversation with my grandmother dispelled that idea. 
• Her parents are named, Frank and Cordie (Humphreys) Clemons. Ethel was always closer to her mother, Cordie, who lived longer then her father, Frank, an orphan who I know very little about. Frank is the only one of my seize quartiers whose parentage is unknown, meaning Ethel is my only great-grandparent, who I do not know all 4 grandparents of. 
• It is stated that she lived most of her life in the South Haven area. Ethel moved to Michigan with her husband John sometime in the early 1950s, when she was probably around 30, and she lived in the area until her death in 2011, so this makes sense. 
• Her place of work is mentioned, Bangor Electric. I know very little about this place, and she retired before I was born. It likely was an electric company in Bangor (a city where the family lived), although I can't be sure. I know that before this, when she lived in Florida, she had worked at a drugstore, and met some celebrity, but I don't know much else. 
• Ethel is described as a "devoted homemaker and mother". All of her living family describes her as such, and my mother tells me how friendly she was, so this sounds accurate. 
• Maybe my paternal grandmother's infamous love of travel comes from Ethel! My grandmother has been all over the United States, and it would make sense that Ethel loved travelling too. My mother recalls that Ethel and my grandmother went to places like Branson, Missouri and Elvis's home. Her love of Elvis is the main thing I remember about her. When my grandmother was having a garage sale at her old house, I bought one of her old Elvis pillowcases and was told this fact. Apparently she had a ton of Elvis stuff. 
• I did not know that Ethel loved board games, but it seems to match her personality. 
• The two sisters and brothers mentioned are Bonnie Mildred, Josephine, and Harold. The obituary doesn't mention Ethel's brother Frank Clemons Jr., who died at eight days old in 1927. He probably wasn't spoken of much. 
• All the surviving relatives have residences listed, which is important for genealogical research and unraveling familial connections. 
• The two living siblings, Peggy and Pat, have been reduced to one, since Pat died in 2014. Peggy is still alive, but very elderly. They both moved to Texas later in life, and many of my great-grandmother's relatives down there are currently Jehovah's Witnesses. 

Obituaries like this are short and simple, but pack a lot of genealogical information.