Charlotte Ellen Tisdel, 86 of Rockford, formerly of Greenville and Sand Lake, went to meet her Lord and Savior on September 20, 2013, at the AdvoCare Assisted Living Facility in Belding, Michigan. The daughter of Emerald L. and Irene A. (Hansen) Jones, she was born August 25,1927 at her grandmother’s home on Montcalm Street in Greenville, Michigan. She was a 1945 graduate of Greenville High School and attended Davenport McLachlan Business School in Grand Rapids. She was a secretary at American Seating Company from 1946 to 1949. She married Gailard Dale Tisdel on September 17,1949 in Gowen, Michigan at the Settlement Lutheran Church. She helped her husband on the family farm located on Tisdel Ave in Sand Lake, Michigan until 1959, when she was employed as an accounting and billing manager by Gibson Refrigeration, which later became White Consolidated Industries, retiring in 1984. She and her husband lived at Turk Lake for 40 years before moving in 2003 to live next door to their son in Rockford. She moved to Assisted Living in June 2010. Charlotte always loved music, singing her first solo in 1930, when just 3 years old. She also learned to play the piano and tenor saxophone at a young age. She was in the band during her school years. She was voted “Class Musician” of her senior class. She began playing piano and organ at the Huggard Bible Church, where she and her husband were members in the late 1950’s to 1963. When they moved their family to Turk Lake, they began to attend the Langston Church in 1965, where Charlotte became the choir director and played the organ She was the music director there for 36 years. Charlotte sang and played for many weddings, funerals and special events over the years. Charlotte was a member of Ashley Baptist Church in Belding for the past 15 years, where she played the organ and sang in the choir. She had always been busy with her hands, making beautiful items with embroidery, needlepoint, cross-stitch, macramé, crochet, knitting and plastic canvas. She was devoted to her family, making family heirloom wall hangings for her children and baby afghans for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren until 2012. Charlotte also loved cross-word puzzles. She was preceded in death by a baby brother, Carlton on September 9,1933; her parents Emerald Jones on Dec 31,1960, and Irene (Hansen) Jones on Sep 29,1995; a son Richard on Sep 29, 1968; her beloved husband of 54 years, Gailard on Dec 29, 2003; brother-in-law, Mervil Tisdel on Aug 31,1998 and 3 sisters-in-law, Helen Bowersox Tisdel on Dec 21, 1994, Doris Jones on March 21, 2004 and Phyllis Sears Tisdel on Aug 7, 2013. She is survived by two sons, Keith (Sheryl) Tisdel of Rockford, Duane (Marcia) Tisdel of Spring Lake; four grandchildren, Amy Jo (William) McDonald of Gowen, Daniel(Cristina) Tisdel, stationed with the US Air Force in Colorado Springs, Mark (Krista) Tisdel of Spring Lake, Darcie (Richard) Jackson of Spring Lake; eleven great grandchildren in whom she delighted, Joseph, Micaiah and Benjamin McDonald, Danica Tisdel, Grace, Joy, Christian, and Luke Jackson, Gavin, Mason and baby due Tisdel; one brother Francis(Denise)Jones of White Cloud; two nieces, Suzan Wilburn of Dallas Texas, and Janet (Don) Medler of Grant; one nephew, Roger (Cathy) Jones of Belding, three nephews on her husband’s side, David( Jill) Tisdel of Cedar Springs, Dennis (Connie) Tisdel of Tempe, AZ and Brian Tisdel of Sand Lake, and many cousins. Funeral services were held on Tuesday September 24, 2013 at 1 pm at Ashley Baptist Church in Belding with her pastor, Rev. David A. Oliver officiating. A luncheon followed the service, with interment taking place privately at Riverside Cemetery, Langston.
Relatives and friends met the family from 6 to 8 PM at Hurst Funeral Home, Greenville on Monday. Memorial contributions may be given to the Ashley Baptist Church Building Fund. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home. To send a message of sympathy to the family, sign Charlotte’s online guest book or share a favorite memory, please visit hurstfuneralhome.com.
Arrangements by Hurst Funeral Home, Greenville
