Roger Caswell

MARSHALL, Mich. – Roger Lee Caswell, 75, passed away on September 21, 2022 at Bronson Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. Roger was born in Cheboygan, Michigan on March 9th, 1947, the son of Merle and Catherine (Peppler) Caswell. He grew up in Mackinaw City, Michigan and lived and worked in Marshall, Albion, and Battle Creek, Michigan for many decades.

Roger graduated from Mackinaw City High School in 1965 and from Central Michigan University in 1969 with a B.S. in Secondary Education, with majors in English and History. He served in the United States Army from 1969-71; he was stationed as a military policeman and patrol supervisor in the Panama Canal Zone. Roger received his Juris Doctorate from Ohio Northern University, Claude W. Petit College of Law in 1975. He married Carol Leffler in 1975, who he had met when they were both working at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in the summer of 1973. Carol and he celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary in 2022.

Roger and Carol moved to Marshall in 1975. They then lived in Albion and moved back to Marshall in 1993. Roger began his career as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the Calhoun County Prosecutor’s Office. He also served the county as Civil Counsel and Chief of the Family Division in the Prosecutor’s Office. Roger was in private practice from 1978-1986 and from 2003-2020, when he retired. A large number of families and now grown-up children remember the help and attention he gave to them when they were in difficulty.

Roger loved to spend time with family and friends, to tell stories, and make new stories while having fun. He liked to bowl, golf, go to football games, take trips to Las Vegas, and occasionally win some money at the local casinos. He had big circles of close friends in both Marshall and Mackinaw. He was a member of Moose Lodge No 676 in Marshall and the Clayton Murray American Legion Post 159 in Mackinaw City. Carol and he visited Mackinaw frequently and have had a summer house there since 2012; he loved a day at Second Beach. Roger was a reader, with multiple books being out from the public library at all times.

Roger was a community servant, giving tirelessly of his time. Among his many contributions were serving as an elected member of the Albion Public Schools Board of Education, on the Board of Directors of South-Central Michigan Legal Service Organization, on the Board of Directors of the Calhoun County Abuse/Neglect Council, at Calhoun County Communities in Schools, on the Marshall Township Zoning Board of Appeals, and on the Board of Southwest Rehab Hospital. He was a volunteer linesman for Marshall High School football games for many years.

Roger was preceded in death by his father and mother; his brother, Paul; and his brother-in-law, Carl Leffler. He is survived by his wife, Carol, of Marshall; his sister, Julie Caswell and her husband, Richard Rogers, of South Deerfield MA; his sister-in-law Karen Caswell of Escanaba MI; his brothers-in-law, Mark Leffler, and his wife, Angela, of Bloomington IN, Richard Leffler of Spencer IN, and John Leffler of Aurora IL; his nieces Kristen Caswell and her husband, Bradley Williams, of Okemos MI, Erin Palmreuter of Gig Harbor WA, and Hanna and Haley Leffler of Spencer IN; and grandnieces and nephew Katie Palmreuter, Piper Williams, and Jill and Ben Palmreuter.

A memorial gathering for Roger will be held on October 22nd, at 2:00 pm, at the Kempf Reception center, 723 US Highway 27 N, Marshall, MI 49068

A gathering and interment in Lakeview Cemetery, in Mackinaw City will occur in summer of 2023.

The Caswell family asks that any memorial donations be directed to the Marshall Public Library, 124 W. Green Street; Marshall, MI 49068 or the Mackinaw Area Public Library, PO Box 67, Mackinaw City, MI 49701.

Condolences can be left for the family at http://www.kempffuneralhome.com