Obituary for Sarah Susan Pigeon
PIGEON, SARAH SUSAN, age 71, of Shepherd, passed away on Saturday, January 2, 2021 at Mid-Michigan Medical Center in Alma, Michigan.
Private family services for Sarah will be held at Clark Family Funeral Chapel. Burial will take place at Chippewa Township Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made by going directly to paypal.me/sballew32 (or by going to Paypal.com and sending donations to sballew32@gmail.com). The family will receive friends at a public visitation on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the funeral chapel.
Family and friends are invited to join the funeral services via a live broadcast on Wednesday, January 6th, at 1 p.m. To do so, please visit the webcasting link at Sarah’s Book of Memories at www.clarkfuneralchapel.com or https://www.facebook.com/clarkfuneralchapel.
Sarah was born June 11, 1949, in Corbin, Kentucky, the daughter of John and Ruby (Saylor) Lawson. She was a graduate of West Ottawa High School in 1967 and was the editor of the school newspaper. Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State University with an English major and Russian minor. She was a reporter for the Holland Evening Sentinel from 1967-1969 and worked in retail and in the real estate market in Holland for many years. Sarah retired as a program developer for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe’s social services in 2008 after 10 years of service.
Sarah had Scottish, Irish, and English ancestry, and was of the Blackbird clan through her Celtic side. She was also descended from Chief Redbird of the Cherokee nation. Her spirit name is Bineshi-Kwe (“Bird Woman”), which was given to her by Frank Bush. Sarah enjoyed practicing her traditional Native American spirituality and was instrumental in helping her family retain and revitalize their traditional cultural practices and ceremonies. She was very artistic; she loved to write poetry, short stories, and songs. She also liked sewing, reading, flower and vegetable gardening, and bird watching. Sarah was also deeply passionate about federal and local politics.
Sarah was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her former husband and best friend Jerome Whitepigeon, Sr. of Shepherd; her children Jerome (Leslie) Pigeon, Jr. of Michigan, Elizabeth (Jeff) Chivis of Mt. Pleasant, Adam Pigeon of Shepherd, and Mark Pigeon of Shepherd; grandchildren Janelle Avery, Jessica Phillips, Christopher Osawabine, Kane Pigeon, Katherine Pigeon, Lisa Sommers, Eric Peters, Brandon Peters, Sarah Ballew, Skylar MacKay, Calvin Ballew, Jayde Byrne, Payne Alexander, Austin Steggerda, Addison Pigeon, Arianna Bird, Logan Bird, Owen Franco, Edward Phelps-Pigeon, Layla Pigeon, Ethan Pigeon, Alister Pigeon; 14 great-grandchildren; sister Carol (John) Wise of Muncie, IN; and many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and cousins.
Private family services for Sarah will be held at Clark Family Funeral Chapel. Burial will take place at Chippewa Township Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made by going directly to paypal.me/sballew32 (or by going to Paypal.com and sending donations to sballew32@gmail.com). The family will receive friends at a public visitation on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the funeral chapel.
Family and friends are invited to join the funeral services via a live broadcast on Wednesday, January 6th, at 1 p.m. To do so, please visit the webcasting link at Sarah’s Book of Memories at www.clarkfuneralchapel.com or https://www.facebook.com/clarkfuneralchapel.
Sarah was born June 11, 1949, in Corbin, Kentucky, the daughter of John and Ruby (Saylor) Lawson. She was a graduate of West Ottawa High School in 1967 and was the editor of the school newspaper. Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State University with an English major and Russian minor. She was a reporter for the Holland Evening Sentinel from 1967-1969 and worked in retail and in the real estate market in Holland for many years. Sarah retired as a program developer for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe’s social services in 2008 after 10 years of service.
Sarah had Scottish, Irish, and English ancestry, and was of the Blackbird clan through her Celtic side. She was also descended from Chief Redbird of the Cherokee nation. Her spirit name is Bineshi-Kwe (“Bird Woman”), which was given to her by Frank Bush. Sarah enjoyed practicing her traditional Native American spirituality and was instrumental in helping her family retain and revitalize their traditional cultural practices and ceremonies. She was very artistic; she loved to write poetry, short stories, and songs. She also liked sewing, reading, flower and vegetable gardening, and bird watching. Sarah was also deeply passionate about federal and local politics.
Sarah was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her former husband and best friend Jerome Whitepigeon, Sr. of Shepherd; her children Jerome (Leslie) Pigeon, Jr. of Michigan, Elizabeth (Jeff) Chivis of Mt. Pleasant, Adam Pigeon of Shepherd, and Mark Pigeon of Shepherd; grandchildren Janelle Avery, Jessica Phillips, Christopher Osawabine, Kane Pigeon, Katherine Pigeon, Lisa Sommers, Eric Peters, Brandon Peters, Sarah Ballew, Skylar MacKay, Calvin Ballew, Jayde Byrne, Payne Alexander, Austin Steggerda, Addison Pigeon, Arianna Bird, Logan Bird, Owen Franco, Edward Phelps-Pigeon, Layla Pigeon, Ethan Pigeon, Alister Pigeon; 14 great-grandchildren; sister Carol (John) Wise of Muncie, IN; and many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and cousins.