Joan B. “Corky” Scholtens
Died Nov. 17, 2015
ELMWOOD
TOWNSHIP – Joan Bernice “Corky” Scholtens, 83, of Elmwood Township, passed away
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 at Orchard Creek Skilled Care.
Corky was born in Grayling on March 24, 1932 to
Helen (Flynn) and Menno Corwin. She
graduated from Grayling High School in 1949 and went onto Central Michigan
College where she met Russell A. Scholtens.
They were married in Grayling on Feb. 10, 1951.
Corky and Russell lived in Mt. Pleasant,
Ionia, Prudenville, Bridgeport, Traverse City and Suttons Bay. Corky was a Eucharistic Minister at St.
Michael Parish and also took Communion to the homebound.
She worked as a sales clerk; eight years as a
substitute teacher in Bridgeport and Traverse City; thirty years as a secretary
for the Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools and was honored in 2001 as an
Outstanding Educator by the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce. She was secretary to her husband during his
Knights of Columbus activities. She
dearly loved her family and loved dancing, camping, sailing, bicycling,
walking, meeting people, playing cards and reading.
Corky and her husband of sixty four years
enjoyed their sailboat the “Corky Too II” and lived on it for twenty five
summers sailing the Great Lakes excepting Lakes Ontario and Erie.
Corky will be missed by her husband Russ
Scholtens; her children, Rebecca F. “Becky” (David) Phillips, John C. (Simona
Padilla) Scholtens, Rochelle A. “Shelly” (Al) Durga; thirteen grandchildren,
numerous great grandchildren, and seven cousins.
She was preceded in death by two sisters,
whom she never met as they died in infancy; Mary Ellen and Barbara Ann, and a
grandson, Justin Durga.
The family will greet friends from 2 to 4
p.m. with the Wake Service to be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at the
Martinson Funeral Home of Suttons Bay. The
mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Wed. Dec. 9 at St. Michael’s Church of
Suttons Bay. Father Wayne Dziekan,
Father Leonard Paul and Father Kenneth Stachnik will serve as co-celebrants.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed
to St. Mary’s Schools, PO Box 340, Lake Leelanau, MI, 49653 and/or GTAC
Schools, 123 E. Eleventh St, Traverse City, MI 49684.
Please share memories and condolences with
Corky’s family below:
Mrs. Scholtens was the best of the best grade school secretaries! She was a special lady who knew the perfect balance between discipline and kindness. God bless her family at this difficult time. She will be remembered always by a lot of us "kids". Cindy Robertson (TCSF Class of 1978)
ReplyDeleteCorky--one of the kindest, most sincere and yet disciplined persons I ever knew. We worked together from 1982 until 2000. She was also the most effective of secretaries--more like an administrative assistant. The fact that we were once chosen as a National Exemplary Elementary school was also a tribute to her quiet effectiveness. Truth be known, she was the one who ran the school like a well oiled machine. Much of the time, I was merely the figurehead. The teachers loved her, the kids loved her, the parents loved her and so did I. God bless her and her family--Russ, Becky Shelly and John. Bill Gorney, Past Principal, St. Francis Elementary
Delete