Ilene Gay

Mrs. Ilene J. Gay, age 86, of Orleans, passed away Sunday evening, October 4, 2009 at Sheridan Community Hospital. The daughter of Melvin Clark & Rose (Phelps) Horton, she was born on July 26, 1923 in Harvard. On Nov. 7, 1953, in Angola, Indiana, she married John Andrew Gay and together they raised four children and enjoyed 52 years of marriage. Ilene worked as a cook and waitress and even owned her own restaurant in St. Ignace when the family lived at the Straits while Andy helped in the building of the Mackinac Bridge as a union ironworker. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, John Andy Gay on Aug. 5, 2005; a sister, Bessie Calkins-Young; two brothers, Morris Horton and Ed Horton; and a son-in-law, Arthur Art Brooks. Surviving are four children, Jacqueline Brooks of Belding, Terry Satterlee, Joseph & Deborah Gay, all of Greenville, and John R. Gay of Belding; former daughter-in-law, Sharon Phillips of Sidney; two half-sisters, Patricia & Don Goodwin of Greenville and Sandra LeFavre of Grand Rapids; a brother-in-law, David Gay; a very special friend, Pam Kaledas; eleven grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren with the 17th on the way; two great-great grandchildren with the 3rd on the way; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 from Shiloh Community Church, Orleans, with burial following at Orleans Township Cemetery. The Rev. Kenneth Harger, retired pastor of Shiloh Community Church, will officiate. Visitation is on Tuesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Brown-Teman & Christiansen Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 511 S. Franklin Street, Greenville, and also on Wednesday from 10-11 a.m. at the church. Envelopes for memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society will be available at the funeral home and the church. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ilene Gay, please visit our flower store.