Leslie Louise Clune Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Leslie Louise Clune of Cadillac passed away peacefully on Monday, May 16, 2022. She was 98. Leslie was born February 5, 1924, in Port Huron, Michigan, where she grew up and graduated from high school. She spent summers with her grandparents and family in Canada, and always loved her Canadian memories and connections. Her parents, Francis James and Cecilia P. (McClellan) Wilson, preceded her in death, as did two of her brothers, Ivan and George Wilson, and her sister Helen Wilson Bauman. She met and married her husband, Jerome D. Clune, in 1942, and he also preceded her in death in 2007 after 65 years of marriage. Leslie is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth Love of Cadillac and Leslie Clune of Guernsey, Channel Islands. She was also blessed with 6 grandchildren: Kelly, Amy, Sean, Heidi, Angel and Tanisha, each of whom added fun and affection to Leslie’s life, while in recent years giving her the special pleasure of 15 great- grandchildren and 8 great-great-grandchildren. The eldest of 5 children herself, Leslie is survived as well by her youngest brother, Irvin "Bill" (Marlene) Wilson, of Marlette, Michigan, and several beloved nieces and nephews, who all knew her as Aunt Louise. (She was known by her middle name for the first third of her long life, and only transitioned to her first name because she took a new job as a private secretary at Kalamazoo Stationary Company, where she was introduced as Leslie. Too polite to persist in correcting her colleagues, she went with the flow and never looked back despite the occasional confusion resulting from having a daughter with exactly the same name.) For many years, Leslie and Jerry owned and operated Jerry’s Restaurant in Otsego, Michigan, the Dairy Bar in Marcellus, and the Blue Dolphin Restaurant in Jones. Leslie helped support the family with other jobs requiring skills ranging from secretarial to operating injection molding machines on Research Molding’s night shift. And, amazingly, she also found the energy to earn an Associate’s degree from Southwestern Michigan Community College, where she studied computer science, English and art. Her most recent job was with Charter Cablevision in Kalamazoo, from which she retired at age 74 after years of success at solving billing problems and keeping customers and the company happy. Leslie’s interests, like her work-life, were eclectic; she was curious about life and all it offered and determined to make the most of it. Fifty years ago, she bravely flew with Jerry on Freddie Laker Airways to see her ancestral home, Yorkshire in England, and to visit Quin in County Clare, Ireland, where the Clune name predominated in both the phone book and the church-yard cemetery. She also liked to recall her adventures later in life traveling on her own to Arizona where her brother George lived and to California where her grandchildren entertained her and showed her the West Coast sights. Closer to home, driving was a life-long passion—anywhere and as often as possible. And, she particularly enjoyed those long-distance trips with Jerry to Sanibel Island every Christmas, where she collected too many sea shells; to the Clune reunions in Mesick where poker games were a favorite activity; and in recent years to the Hilliard family reunions in Ontario, which seemed always to involve some travel mishap that never dampened her enthusiasm for going. When her vision failed and driving was no longer possible, she made regular use of the Wexford bus service, adored the drivers and counted among her many blessings living in a place that offered such a great service. When she physically could not manage the bus travel, she knew she could rely on her long-time friend Sue Cronkhite to be her driver, as well as daughter Beth and others who took her on special outings. Autumn leaves viewed from a ski lift chair were an annual treat, with a side trip to admire the swans or to say hello to the llamas or to aim for a secret woodsy location in search of morels. Leslie always had her camera at the ready, even after she had lost most of her sight and could only guess at what the lens might be capturing. In her mind’s eye, it was always a beautiful day. She produced countless ceramic treasures, was an expert and prolific knitter, and although cooking wasn’t her forte, she baked yummy cookies for Sue’s grandkids. She was a regular at the Senior Center for lunch, played in their Kitchen Band, and loved the people she met there. Music, all kinds, gave her joy, and she was always on the lookout for a good concert she might attend and a willing companion to accompany her. A devoted Detroit Tigers fan, she was able to attend a few games and never missed one on TV, and although she multitasked with dozing while watching, Alexa always kindly filled her in on the score or when she could expect the next Tigers game to be aired. Throughout her life, various pet dogs and cats shared life with Leslie, but perhaps as a result of the pandemic when human contact became rare, she bonded completely with her cat Di and her little dog Casey. She missed Di terribly when Di recently passed away. But Casey was so emotionally in sync with Leslie she seemed able to share Leslie’s pain and thereby diminish it; Casey did her best to fill the hole left by Di’s departure by staying very close and radiating love, so that in the end the two of them seemed spiritually as one. To live 98 years is in itself an enviable accomplishment; Leslie made the most of those years, whether working, enjoying a good chili dog, completing the daily crossword puzzle, dozing or just being, she did it all fully, with indefatigable optimism and without regret. She made the world a happier place. She will be so missed. It was Leslie’s wish to forgo services, but she hoped that people she knew would remember her fondly as a good person and know how much she appreciated all of them. An online guestbook is available at www.petersonfh.com.

Leslie Louise Clune

February 5, 1924 - May 16, 2022