Leland "Dud"

Leland "Dud" Ham age 97, died peacefully with his family present on November 10, 2006 at Emerald Forest in Marshall, Michigan. Dud was born April 28, 1909 in Wauseon, Ohio, the third child of Thomas J. Ham and his wife Minnie M. (Westfall) Ham. Dud grew up in Toledo, Ohio. After graduating from high school Dud started working as an assistant in a drapery workroom of LaSalle''s Department Store. He worked as an assistant to Clair Hoffman the Interior Designer doing the window treatments for many of the mansions in Maumee, Toledo and later Chicago. He moved to Cleveland in 1950 where he was the manager of the drapery workroom of Halle Brothers. He retired from Halle''s in February 1974 and moved to Ft. Myers, Florida. He moved to Marshall, Michigan in February 1998. On August 29, 1933 he was united in marriage to the former Annis R. Bird in Bellefontaine, Ohio. She preceded him in death on December 24, 1997.Dud was active as a Boy Scout Leader and formed his last Boy Scout troop at First Methodist Church in downtown Ft. Myers, Florida in 1980. While living in Brooklyn Heights, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland he served as a Village Councilman, where he was chairperson of the Parks Committee and later chairman of the Village Home days. He was active in the United Methodist Church and served on his church''s board in Ft. Myers. After moving to Marshall he was on the Building Committee for Lyon Lake United Methodist Church. He enjoyed watching football, baseball, and golf. He did extensive research on family genealogy. He enjoyed fly-fishing and golf. To celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary he and his wife traveled to Great Britain where he played eighteen holes of golf on the Old Course at St. Andrew''s Scotland.Dud is survived by his sons John and Rita (Kwiatkowski) of Yuma, Arizona and Fred and Rosemary (Rackow) of Marshall, Michigan, three grandchildren Rachelle Ham of Israel, David Ham of Madison, Wisconsin, and Charles and Eleanor (Budd) Ham of Dexter, Michigan and one great-granddaughter Elizabeth and a large number of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister Mildred Ham, and brothers Thomas and Benjamin. Friends may call at the Craig K. Kempf Funeral Home on Tuesday November 14, 2006 from 9AM to 9PM, where the family will be present to greet friends and share memories from 2-4 PM and 6PM to 8PM. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday November 15, 2006, at 11 AM at the Kempf Funeral Home with Rev. Mark Mitchell of Lyon Lake United Methodist Church officiating. A meal will follow at the Fredonia Township Hall. Interment will be in Maple Grove Cemetery in Hudson, Michigan at 3:30PM. Memorials may be made to Fountain Clinic, Lyon Lake Methodist Church, or the Marshall District Library. Assistance with memorials is available at Kempf Funeral Home.