John "Jack" Alexander Esau

Mr. John Alexander Esau, age 93, of Cass City, died Sun., Oct. 30, 2011 at Northwood Meadows in Cass City, where he had been a resident since August.

Jack (as he was known to one and all throughout his long life), was born in Detroit on Jan. 30, 1918, the son of the late Robert and Effie (McLellan) Esau. His family moved back to the Thumb when he was still a very young child and he attended country school in Greenleaf Township and graduated from Cass City High School in 1935. He attended Michigan State University in 1935 - 1936, then returned to Cass City to work at the old Maier and Young Meat Market on Main Street. He made his home with Fred and Fern Maier, who regarded him virtually as a son. In 1940, with war already looming, he enlisted in the U S Marine Corps, and served on active duty throughout World War II in the southern Pacific theatre, seeing active combat duty in Guam and Guadacanal. He was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1946 and returned to Cass City.

On June 10, 1948 he and Ruth Schenck were married in the Evangelical Church in Cass City. They built their home on the Schenck family farm on Milligan Road in that year, and lived there the rest of their lives. Ruth died Feb. 6, 2008.

After leaving the Gross and Maier Meat Market (as it later became), Jack worked for a number of years as director of personnel at Walbro Corporation, then at the Rawson Dental Clinic. He worked part-time for 18 years at Erla's Foods before finally retiring for good when he was well into his eighties.

Jack was very much involved in the civic life of Cass City throughout his adult life, and served on the Cass City School board, including a term as president. He was a founding member of both the Cass City Area Historical Society and the Cass City Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3644, also serving as Quartermaster of the Cass City VFW. He was an ardent reader throughout his life, with particular interests in the history of the United States Civil War era, natural history, and his beloved Scotland, the land of his maternal forebears. He relied heavily on the Rawson Memorial District Library for reading material and developed lasting friendships with many library staff over the years.

He was a great animal lover and shared his life with many generations of beloved dogs and cats.

He was predeceased by his parents, his wife, two sisters (Janet Esau of Detroit and Elizabeth Esau Baker of Pennsylvania, two nieces and many first cousins of the MacRae, Wheeler and Croft families.

Jack is survived by a son, Eric (John DeSantis) of Newbury, VT, daughters, Mary Beth (Howard) Bialick of Cincinnati, Ohio and Anne (Steve) Ballard of Cass City, three grandchildren, Jacob Esau Ballard, John Alexander Ballard and Janey Elizabeth Ballard, all of Cass City, a sister, Marian Esau Kolleth of Florida, a brother, Carl Esau of Florida, many friends including Phil and Kathy Nichols of Cass City, several nephews and nieces, and two first cousins.

He was also predeceased by his lifelong friend and native of Cass City, Gerald Kercher of Connecticut, in August 2011.

Funeral services will be held at 11 AM January 2, 2012 at Fraser Presbyterian Church, on Huron Line Road at Van Dyke (M-53), followed by a lunceheon at the Cass City VFW Post. Interment of his ashes will be in the Esau-Schenck family plot in the Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City.

Contributions in Jack's memory may be made to the Rawson Memorial District Library, Cass City.

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