Mary Ellen Whitney

Mary Ellen Whitney passed away on January 27, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona, where she had been residing with her daughter Charlotte Whitney and son-in-law William J. Thomson for the past eight years. She was 96 and had suffered a hip fracture a few months prior to her death. In her last years she could be seen almost daily in her wheelchair looking at the flowers and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air in the Lakes of Tempe. She loved going out on the pontoon boat and enjoying the warm Arizona breezes. Mary Ellen was born on the Marengo Township farm of her parents, George S Bosserd and Iris (Mulvany) Bosserd on July 19, 1922. She attended the one-room little red brick Hewitt school in Marengo Township. She graduated from Marshall High School in 1940. She attended MSU for a semester where she met her husband, Forest A. (Pete) Whitney. They married on December 8, 1944. Mary Ellen and Pete resided at their family farm for seventy years until Pete passed away in 2011. She was a farm wife who helped out with many chores. She loved gardening, square dancing, and refinishing furniture. She was an active member of Convis Union United Methodist Church for seventy years and served on the Marshall Township election board for many years and was a member of the Home Economics Club. In 2011 she started living with her daughter Charlotte and son-in-law Bill splitting her time between Ann Arbor, Michigan and Tempe, Arizona. She loved the drive back and forth going through the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, the Navajo Nation, the Rocky Mountains, and seeing the sights such as the St. Louis Arch and Mississippi River along the way.. She was particularly excited about being included in trips to Chicago, Northern Michigan across the Mackinac Bridge, and back and forth to Marshall to join her favorite “Wendy Wednesday” group. Surviving are her two daughters Sulinda (Ed) Leffingwell and Charlotte Whitney (Dr. William Thomson). She is also survived by two grandsons Steven Thomson (Dr. Catherine Ross) and Bradley Thomson and one great grandson Ayden Hernandez Thomson. She was preceded in death by her grandson Kenneth E. Whitney Thomson. She was also preceded in death by her two sisters Alma Redfield and Rowene Geisen. She is also survived by several very special nieces and nephews. A visitation will be held for Mary on Friday, February 1, 2019 from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm at Kempf Family Funeral Home-Marshall Chapel, 723 US Highway 27 North, Marshall, Michigan. Funeral services will follow at 12:00 pm also at Kempf Family Funeral Home-Marshall Chapel, Marshall, Michigan. Mary will be laid to rest at Oakridge Cemetery in Marshall, Michigan. Richardson Funeral Home, Tempe, Arizona and Kempf Family Funeral Home, Marshall, Michigan are both compassionately serving the family.

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Interment following funeral service

Friday February 1st, 2019

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Visitation

Friday February 1st, 2019

10:30am - 12:00pm

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Funeral

Friday February 1st, 2019

12:00pm

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