Della M. Trudgen

Della M. Trudgen, age 93 of Pigeon, former Laker High School educator, died peacefully Monday morning, March, 4, at her home in Pigeon.

She was born February 25, 1920 in Bliss, Michigan to the late Allen and Mabel (DeGroat) Herman. She moved to a farm in Chandler Twp. with her family in 1934. Della was determined to get an education, so she walked the 7 miles into Elkton and later moved to town graduating in 1939.

After her first year of college at Washington State in Yakima, Washington, Della worked in the Detroit area in a variety of jobs to support herself while attending college on a part-time basis. Della obtained her bachelor’s degree in education from Houghton College of New York, and began her first job as a teacher back home at Elkton High School in 1949. Della continued to further her education at U of M getting a dual Master’s Degree in Library Science and another in English. Della left the Elkton area for a teaching job at Bethel College in Mishawalka, Indiana, in 1955; where she remained until her marriage.
On August 15, 1964, she was united in marriage to Joseph H. Trudgen in Elkton. He preceded her in death in 1973.
Della took a job at Walled Lake High School until 1968 when she again returned to Elkton and taught at Laker High School until retiring in 1980.

Della was a long time member of the Elkton Missionary Church. She was an avid reader and enjoyed playing scrabble and other board games. She and her husband traveled several times to his hometown in Cornwall, England. Della traveled around the US and abroad for years following her husband’s death with friends and family members.

Surviving are three sisters, Lillian (Willard) Williams of Pigeon, Suzanne Schember of Pigeon and Mabel Herman of Owendale; two sisters-in-law, Eileen Herman of Pigeon and Genevieve Herman of East Lansing; nineteen nieces and nephews; numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews; and her special care giver, Connie Dubs.

Preceding her in death were four brothers, Elmer, Gilbert, Donald and Paul; brother-in-law, Olin Schember; sister-in-law, Doris Herman and a nephew, Edward Williams.
Funeral services will be conducted 11:00 AM Friday, March 8, at the Elkton Missionary Church with burial in Grandlawn Cemetery, Pigeon.

Friends may call at the Champagne Funeral Chapel, Elkton from 2 to 8 PM Thursday and at the church after 10:00 AM Friday.
Memorials may be given to Bethel College or Houghton College