Marion Elizabeth Smalley Redhead's Obituary
Marion Elizabeth Smalley Redhead was born on October 25, 1927 at the Smalley family farm in Fowlerville, Michigan. The youngest of four children, Marion grew up on the farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse a mile away until 8th grade. She went to high school in Dansville where she dated every boy in her admittedly small class (well, except one, as she would always point out).
After graduating she went to work at Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science and lived with four other young women in Lansing. She met her future husband Jack Lavern Redhead at a barn dance that they both attended with other people, and they immediately hit it off–to the point where they married just a few months later in 1949. They remained married until Jack’s death in 2018 after 71 years together. She is survived by her daughters Deborah Hanmer, Constance Cassidy, and Julie Nemchik, along with son-in-law Paul Nemchik, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Marion traveled and camped all over the United States with her family, and often with three close couples and all their children. Their campsites were always crowded with masses of kids, and not just the ones they brought, but usually those of several of the families camping nearby. She kept meticulous daily notes in her travel journal and years later could tell you exactly how much it cost to fill up the Plymouth in Lander, Wyoming in 1964. She made friends easily–the family joke was that she could sit next to a stranger on a plane for a 3 hour flight and end up knowing their life story and exchanging Christmas cards for the next 30 years. She served as a member of the Board of Canvassers for Madison Heights, Michigan and was an Elder, and Deacon, and choir member of the Presbyterian churches she attended.
Marion raised her daughters with high expectations, loving hugs, fits of laughter around the dinner table, and many pearls of wisdom dispensed on a regular basis. She was strong- willed and feisty, but also thoughtful and open to learning new things. In her fifties she went back to college and earned an Associates Degree with high honors. She read at least three books in every possible genre or topic per week until her eyesight began to fail her in her nineties.
Marion is preceded in death by her husband, grandson Andrew Cassidy, and two sons-in-law: Clark Hanmer and Charles Cassidy. She died peacefully at home after an extended illness on September 24, 2022 at the age of 94. The family will hold a private memorial. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name may be made to The Nature Conservancy, link to the donation page can be found here: https://preserve.nature.org/page/81523/donate/1
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