Edward Charles Hessel, 80, died of lung cancer at Bay Bluffs Residence Home in Harbor Springs Monday, August 31.

He was born August 9, 1929, to Carl Guy and Nellie Mae (nee Boger) Hessel in Hessel and is the grandson of Charles Hessel, who with his brother, John, were the founders of Hessel.

Mr. Hessel attended Cedarville High School and was graduated in 1947. He worked for the Mackinac County Road Commission until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in May 1951. During his first return trip to Hessel in September of that year, he married Mary Ellen Smith of Pickford.

He was stationed at Camp Stoneman, California, and later on Koji Island in Korea. After 11 months in Korea, he was transferred to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, where he was joined by his wife. He was honorably discharged in February 1953 with the rank of sergeant.

The couple returned to Hessel and he took a job with a factory in Sault Ste. Marie that made jet rings. After he lost a finger in an accident, he used the GI Bill to become a teacher. In 1955, he enrolled at the Michigan Technological University branch in Sault Ste. Marie, which would later become Lake Superior State University, then transferred after two years to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where he earned a bachelor's degree and teaching certification.

His first teaching job was in Pickford, filling in for a teacher on sabbatical. One year later he took an elementary teaching position in Waterford, where he taught for five years. He later taught high school in Mattawan and coached basketball and track for five years, then taught at Pellston so his family could be closer to their roots in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

After 33 years of teaching, Mr. Hessel retired in 1991. He was always pleased when former students stopped by his home to greet him and tell him how they were doing.

He was a devoted family man to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and he and Mrs. Hessel cared for both their mothers for 20 years.

Mr. Hessel was preceded in death by parents, a twin sister, Edna Belle, and brother-in-law, James Talbot.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons and their families, Charles and Jan of DeTour, Kevin and Tina of Pellston, and Joel of Pellston; a daughter and her family, Amy Jo and Leon Korsjens of Canton; seven grandchildren and their families, Robert Hessel of Atlanta, Georgia, Charles and Amber Hessel of Cheboygan, Stacy and Tom Santer of Lewiston, Vicki Lahela of Lewiston, Danielle Korstjens of Canton, Robert Korstjens of Canton, and Dalton Hessel of Petoskey; 12 greatgrandchildren and their families, Brennan Hessel, Madilyn Lehela, Keegan Santer, Samara and Robert Lee, Natalie and Gordon Postula, Holly Newell, Ricky Klungel, Natalie Lee, Marlie Postula, Shawn Postula, Aiden Klungel, and Ella Klungel; two brothers, John Hessel of St. Ignace and Donald and Louise Hessel of Gladwin; four brothers-in-law and their families, Jay and Adrienne Smith of Pickford, Harry and Gloria Smith of Pickford, Dewey and Greta Smith of Harrison, and Donald and Evelyn Smith of Dundee, and many nieces and nephews.

Services will be Friday, September 4, at New Hope Methodist Church in Levering at 11 a.m. with a reception following. Pastor Matt Stoll will officiate. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the funeral.

Schiller Funeral Home of Harbor Springs is handling the arrangements.