Effie VanGeison, 84, of St. Ignace, formerly of Montague, passed away January 26, 2010, at Mackinac Straits Hospital Long Term Care of St. Ignace, where she had been a patient for eight years

She was born in St. Ignace November 14, 1925, to John and Elizabeth McLean.

She was graduated from LaSalle High School in the Class of 1943. She worked at the Mackinac County Courthouse in her early years, and also for the St. Ignace Post Office during World War II. She retired from Whitehall Leather and Tannery as a payroll clerk in 1989 and moved back to St. Ignace. Mrs. VanGeison was a member of Moose Lodge 999, United Methodist Church, and United Methodist Women.

She is survived by a daughter and her family, Kathy and Ronald Boer of Burien, Washington; two sons and their families, Jack and Cheryl VanGeison of Whitehall and Robert and Tracy VanGeison of Montague; six grandchildren and their families, Ann and Brett Wornstaff of Germfask, Scott and Tawnya Boer of Seattle, Washington, Lynn and Kerri Heacock of Whitehall, Troy and Hautumn VanGeison of Whitehall, Christopher VanGeison and Nathan VanGeison, both of Montague, and three great-grandchildren, Patricia, Sean, and Wyatt. She is also survived by a former daughter-in-law, Donna Van- Geison.

Mrs. VanGeison was preceded in death by her husband, Robert, who died April 22, 1982; a brother, Donald McLean, who died in 2003, and a sister, Catherine McLean, who died in 1998.

Services were Friday, January 29, at 2 p.m. at Dodson Funeral Home in St. Ignace with Pastor Wayne Foote officiating. Burial will be in the spring at Gros Cap Cemetery next to her husband.