Harvey Kuester

Harvey Harold Kuester Sr. 98, of Richmond and formerly of Lenox Township, passed away peacefully Tuesday January 10, 2012 at MediLodge of Richmond. Harvey was born March 12, 1913 in New Haven to the late Albert and Sophia (Baade) Kuester and had moved to Kuester Road in Lenox where he raised his family and lived for over 60 years. His marriage to Elaine Hood was in April of 1934. Elaine passed away July 15, 2008. Harvey enjoyed telling everyone about his “hobo trip” when he was a single man and has a song written and sung by his grandson Keith about the adventure. He served his country with the United States Navy and had many jobs in his lifetime. He was a former carpenter and stonemason. He was a former auxiliary police officer on the Richmond force, was an active member of the Richmond Sportsman’s Club in the 1960’s. He drove truck around the country seeing God’s hand at its finest and enjoyed his talks with son Randy who now drives truck around the country. He volunteered for many years working with the Macomb Soil Conservation Service. He raised exotic birds, Kuester’s Game Farm, and liked telling the story of trading chickens for his first car. He enjoyed many hunting and fishing trips with his sons, sons-in-law, grandsons and good friends. His last job was with Selfridge Air Base where he retired from in the 80’s. That was a big accomplishment to him, as he never made it to high school. However, his biggest and best accomplishments where his children, whom he referred to as his “ten little Indians,” although there were only nine. Surviving are his children, Dennis (Carol) of Lenox, Karen (Richard) Edwards of Belleville, Sandra (William) Grasso of Redlands, CA, Harvey Jr. (Linda) of Lenox, Sherry (James) Gavin of Richmond, with whom he resided with for the past three years, and Randall (Chris) of Pelkie; daughter–in-law, Janet Suess of Richmond; 19 grandchildren, Mike (Minnie) Davidson, Jane (Curtis) Cripe, Jeff Davidson, Darryl Kuester, Lori (Jim) Capozzo, Rhonda (Archie) O’Donnell, Renee (Pete) Pietrykowski, Tracy (Tom) Henderson, Trevor (Katrina) Kuester, Terry (Cindy) Edwards, Eric (Jennifer) Edwards, Stephanie Edwards, Sharon (Howard) Stephens, RuthAnn Kuester, Rebecca (Keith) Menzies, Tom (Margaret) Kerin, Loraine Kuester, Randy (Becky) Kuester, Justin (Amber) Kuester and Tim Burnham, 32 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren; half brothers, Lawrence and Walter Priehs, sister, Airretta Logie and will also be remembered by good neighbors, many dear friends, special friends Bertha Teska and Mary Colling and Jim and Sherry’s dog, Sadie, his loyal companion. He was preceded in death by his daughter Gayle who died at birth, son, Dallas (1962) and daughter and Joyce Davidson (2010). One of dad’s favorite sayings was he would like to be remembered as a carpenter and a half-ass farmer. He raised his family to believe in the Lord. He was kind, honest, thankful, brave, had a deep love for his country and still enjoyed a good cigar. His family honors the memory of Harvey and invites you to visit and share memories Thursday 6:00 to 8:00 and Friday 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Kaatz Funeral Directors, Richmond. Funeral services will be 3:00 p.m. Saturday with 2:00 p.m. visiting. Rev. Warren Hood, pastor of Living Word Fellowship Church, New Haven, will officiate. Burial will be in Richmond Cemetery, Richmond. In remembrance of Harvey please plant a tree. For information and Guest Book kaatzfunerals.com