Junis 'Kaye' Birkmeier

Junis 'Kaye' Birkmeier

Junis "Kaye" Birkmeier of DeTour Village was the proprietor of two DeTour businesses, River Threads and Beyond Words. She volunteered her skills as a graphic artist and desktop publisher to the Friends of the DeTour Library, the Eastern Upper Peninsula Fine Arts Council, and the DeTour Botanical Gardens, among other community projects and organizations.

Mrs. Birkmeier passed away suddenly Monday, June 11, 2007. She was 71.

She was born February 27, 1936 in Kenton, Ohio, to Russell Harvey and Katherine Leighty.

Among her community involvements, Mrs. Birkmeier coauthored a play that was performed for the DeTour Centennial. Her friends and family will remember her for her artistic creativity, demonstrated in her stained glass and gardening. One of her favorite activities was card playing because of the time it afforded her with the people she loved. Those who knew her will recall her warm sense of humor and her welcoming home, which was always open to her many friends.

Mrs. Birkmeier is survived by her sisters, Anne Clune and Jane Davis; two sons and their families, Stephen and Cynthia Birkmeier and Scott and Debbie Birkmeier; a daughter, Mary Elizabeth and Daniel Boyea; five grandchildren, Elise, Adriane, Eric, Darcy, and Sam, and a great-grandchild, Payton.

Memorial services for Mrs. Birkmeier were at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at the Union Presbyterian Church on Ontario Street in DeTour Village.

Memorial donations can be made to the DeTour Friends of the Library, the Eastern Upper Peninsula Fine Arts Council, or the DeTour Botanical Gardens.