Maurice Carey

Maurice Calvin Carey by Valerie Girdwood I want to tell you something. After Maurice Calvin Carey was born, his mother told the doctor (who was preparing to leave) that another baby was coming. Fifteen minutes later Mercer Harding Carey was born. They were identical twins, born on April 10, 1921, to the parents of Dr. Leon and Esther Carey on their farm near Atlanta, Michigan. On Christmas Day 1942, Dad married Onalee Powell of Atlanta. They raised four children on their farm where he was born, and we can't imagine growing up in any other place. They were married for sixty-two years. Dad enjoyed telling people he was born and raised on the farm and never made enough money to move off of it, but he was glad he didn't because he enjoyed farming and knowing the people in the community. Dad valued hard work and liked all his jobs. "If you like what you're doing, it's a whole lot easier to get out of bed in the morning." Along with farming, Dad was dually employed as an Atlanta School bus driver and a gas station attendant at the Ford/Standard Station in Atlanta. He was a dispatcher, stock clerk and surveyor for Montmorency County Road Commission; a pulpwood truck driver for John Cumper; and bulk- milk hauler for Ervin McMurphy. He hauled milk from dairy farmers also on Sundays because "cows give milk seven days a week." He was one of the founders of Montmorency County Federal Credit Union; a member of Montmorency County Soil and Water Conservation District board and of the Haymeadow Farm Bureau. He was Briley Township Supervisor from Jan 1964 to Dec 1984. During those years, he helped obtain repairs of the dam and park in Atlanta, helped secure the installation of Atlanta's water system and new runway at airport. One of his Farmall tractors was used to mow the runway. Dad was clerk for fire department, ambulance and airport boards. He served on the Montmorency County 4-H Fair Board from 1964 to 1985 as Parking Committee Chairman.. Dad donated antique farming machinery to the fair and powered the threshing machine with one of his Doodlebug trucks. Dad was a lifelong active member of Big Rock Congregational Church. Our Dad was a "people person" who had a passion for the community and its residents. People held him in high regard because they learned history and other information about the community by listening to his stories which involved his love of farming and tractors, lumbering, building doodlebugs, attending tractor shows, being in parades with his doodlebug, and his joy of conversation with friends and family. In his latter years, he developed special friendships over coffee at Kristie's and Mary D's on a regular basis. In the late 1980's, Dad built a cabin on the farm overlooking the pond and a field where potatoes once grew. He used a variety of wood in its construction, including cedar he harvested from the swamp. Dad said, "I built the cabin because I could do it. I built the whole thing; it was an accomplishment." He intended to build another cabin, but couldn't, due to illness. Also during this time, he began building/restoring doodlebugs; he completed four. Currently, Dad and grandson Paul were in the process of building number five, with plans for the sixth one in Dad's head. Maurice Calvin Carey, 88 years old, of Atlanta, went to be with his Lord on August 3, 2009, from his farm home on Baker Road. "His Lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.'". Dad is survived by children Shelia (John) Stone of Atlanta, Valerie (Robert) Girdwood of Dansville, Ross (Theresa) Carey of Traverse City; grandchildren Paul (Kathy) Carey, Charles (Crystal) Kinsey, Kyle Wilkins, Sara Wilkins, and Matthew, Neil, Spencer and Elizabeth Carey; great-grandchildren Cheyenne Berryhill, William Carey and Kayden Kinsey; son-in-law David Bradley of Northville, brother Gates (Bernice) Carey of East Jordan, sisters Naomi Shepard of East Jordan, Jeanette (Harold) Grove of West Branch, and sister-in-law Bertie Carey of Bay City. He was preceded in death by wife Onalee, on January 10, 2005; daughter Ruth Bradley; son-in-law Charles Kinsey; brothers Wirt (infant), Eugene and twin brother Mercer; sisters-in-law Betty Carey and Beth Carey, and brother-in-law Ralph Shepard. A gathering of Dad's friends and family will be held at Big Rock Congregational Church from 2pm - 8pm, August 5. Dad's funeral will also be at the church at 2 pm, August 6, preceded by one hour of visitation. His six grandsons are honored to be his pall bearers. Interment will be in Briley Township Cemetery. Memorials are suggested in his name to Big Rock Congregational Church and Hospice of Michigan, specifying Alpena branch.
On Christmas Day 1942, Dad married Onalee Powell of Atlanta. They raised four children on their farm where he was born, and we can't imagine growing up in any other place. They were married for sixty-two years. Dad enjoyed telling people he was born and raised on the farm and never made enough money to move off of it, but he was glad he didn't because he enjoyed farming and knowing the people in the community. Dad valued hard work and liked all his jobs. "If you like what you're doing, it's a whole lot easier to get out of bed in the morning."
Along with farming, Dad was dually employed as an Atlanta School bus driver and a gas station attendant at the Ford/Standard Station in Atlanta. He was a dispatcher, stock clerk and surveyor for Montmorency County Road Commission; a pulpwood truck driver for John Cumper; and bulk- milk hauler for Ervin McMurphy. He hauled milk from dairy farmers also on Sundays because "cows give milk seven days a week." He was one of the founders of Montmorency County Federal Credit Union; a member of Montmorency County Soil and Water Conservation District board and of the Haymeadow Farm Bureau. He was Briley Township Supervisor from Jan 1964 to Dec 1984. During those years, he helped obtain repairs of the dam and park in Atlanta, helped secure the installation of Atlanta's water system and new runway at airport. One of his Farmall tractors was used to mow the runway. Dad was clerk for fire department, ambulance and airport boards. He served on the Montmorency County 4-H Fair Board from 1964 to 1985 as Parking Committee Chairman.. Dad donated antique farming machinery to the fair and powered the threshing machine with one of his Doodlebug trucks. Dad was a lifelong active member of Big Rock Congregational Church.
Our Dad was a "people person" who had a passion for the community and its residents. People held him in high regard because they learned history and other information about the community by listening to his stories which involved his love of farming and tractors, lumbering, building doodlebugs, attending tractor shows, being in parades with his doodlebug, and his joy of conversation with friends and family. In his latter years, he developed special friendships over coffee at Kristie's and Mary D's on a regular basis. In the late 1980's, Dad built a cabin on the farm overlooking the pond and a field where potatoes once grew. He used a variety of wood in its construction, including cedar he harvested from the swamp. Dad said, "I built the cabin because I could do it. I built the whole thing; it was an accomplishment." He intended to build another cabin, but couldn't, due to illness. Also during this time, he began building/restoring doodlebugs; he completed four. Currently, Dad and grandson Paul were in the process of building number five, with plans for the sixth one in Dad's head.
Maurice Calvin Carey, 88 years old, of Atlanta, went to be with his Lord on August 3, 2009, from his farm home on Baker Road. "His Lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.'".
Dad is survived by children Shelia (John) Stone of Atlanta, Valerie (Robert) Girdwood of Dansville, Ross (Theresa) Carey of Traverse City; grandchildren Paul (Kathy) Carey, Charles (Crystal) Kinsey, Kyle Wilkins, Sara Wilkins, and Matthew, Neil, Spencer and Elizabeth Carey; great-grandchildren Cheyenne Berryhill, William Carey and Kayden Kinsey; son-in-law David Bradley of Northville, brother Gates (Bernice) Carey of East Jordan, sisters Naomi Shepard of East Jordan, Jeanette (Harold) Grove of West Branch, and sister-in-law Bertie Carey of Bay City. He was preceded in death by wife Onalee, on January 10, 2005; daughter Ruth Bradley; son-in-law Charles Kinsey; brothers Wirt (infant), Eugene and twin brother Mercer; sisters-in-law Betty Carey and Beth Carey, and brother-in-law Ralph Shepard. A gathering of Dad's friends and family will be held at Big Rock Congregational Church from 2pm - 8pm, August 5. Dad's funeral will also be at the church at 2 pm, August 6, preceded by one hour of visitation. His six grandsons are honored to be his pall bearers. Interment will be in Briley Township Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested in his name to Big Rock Congregational Church and Hospice of Michigan, specifying Alpena branch.