Marie E. Boston

Marie E. Boston, age 96 of Fremont, passed away Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at the Mercy General Health Partners in Muskegon. Marie was born on July 18, 1912 in Mooreland Township to Charles and Irene (Jibson) Larsen and graduated from Ravenna High School and later from Muskegon Business School. Marie married Carol Ferguson who preceded her in death. She later married Floyd Boston on August 3, 1963 and he preceded her in death on March 31, 2000. Marie had been a key punch operator at Gerber Products Company for 24 years until her retirement. Marie was a member of the Fremont United Methodist Church and volunteered many hours at NCCS where she knitted over 1000 hats. She was a member of the Business & Professional Women’s Group, enjoyed quilting, gardening, feeding the birds and squirrels and treasured spending time with her family.

She is survived by her children, Doris (Joe) Wolters of Twin Lake; James (Lois) Ferguson of Grand Haven; Edward (Susan) Ferguson of Wilmington, North Carolina; step children, Yvonne Boston of Cary, North Carolina; Ronald (Eve) Boston of Muskegon; George (Sherrin Krueger) Boston of Muskegon; 20 grandchildren; 33 great grandchildren; 2 great great grandchildren; extended family, Carol & Gayle and their families. Preceded in death by her sister, Eva Boston.

VISITATION : Saturday, May 30, 2009 from 4-6 pm at Crandell Funeral Home – Fremont Chapel and Sunday, May 31, 2009 from 2-3 at the church. FUNERAL SERVICES : Sunday at 3pm at the Fremont United Methodist Church. INTERMENT : Ravenna Cemetery. MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS : Newaygo County Community Services Coats for Kids or Fremont Area Community Foundation for the Fremont United Methodist Church Endowment Fund for memorial contributions in memory of Marie. Friends may also send a condolence or share a memory with the Boston Family online at www.crandellfh.com. Arrangements by Crandell Funeral Home – Fremont Chapel.

Dear Jim and families.

I'm so sorry to hear of your mother's passing.

She was a wonderful lady.

Jerry Woodring

Posted 5/27/2009

Marie E. Boston

An Appreciation

I don’t know a lot about Marie’s views on formal religion. We never discussed it. But I saw her live her faith. In our few encounters, I saw her surrounded by family. Those related to her by blood or marriage, and those just related by crossing her path. They were all family to Marie.

I remember her tireless work ethic. A simple trip to pick blueberries on a beautiful (hot) Michigan summer day comes to mind. It was 2001. I was pretty cocky, being experienced in picking berries from my family’s New Hampshire farm. So after about a half hour, when I heard my wife calling everyone together, I was ready to proudly show everyone the container with maybe two quarts of fat berries I’d picked. I quickly hid my container when I came around a bush and saw the tiny woman almost twice my age toting one full container and halfway to filling up a second! Marie Boston could work a garden.

Marie never gave me a testimony about being a Christian, but she did teach me a lot about what it meant to be one. She embodied the Wesleyan ideal of the Christian religion as a social religion. Whether she was knitting yarn into a warm cap, assembling scraps of fabric into a beautiful quilt, helping strangers or uniting family at a backyard picnic, Marie wove people and love together into the fabric of her life and made each feel a special and unique piece of the whole. She managed to do it humbly, without the sin of pride entering in.

John Wesley’s ideal for Christian living was to love God and neighbor so constantly and perfectly that love motivates all your actions. He encouraged Methodists by saying,

“Do all the good you can,  By all the means you can,  In all the ways you can,  In all the places you can,  At all the times you can,  To all the people you can,  As long as ever you can.”

This was the way Marie lived. Maybe that was only the times I saw her, but from what I hear from others and read about her, I suspect it was pretty much all the time with her.

With that kind of lifestyle, you don’t need long philosophical debates or a well-crafted personal testimony to convince others of what the love of Christ can do in your life. You just live it day by day. What a wonderful example for all of us.

Thanks, Marie.

Eric Potter