Name: October 1961 Beacon obituaries remember four Beaver Island-connected people
Start: 1961-09-01
End: 1961-09-27
Location: Beaver Island

Event

Dates: 1961-09-01 – 1961-09-27
Kind: Death
Participants: Fred Spaulding (deceased) · John Grill Sr. (deceased) · Perry Smith (deceased) · Helen Cole McClean (deceased)
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: demographycommunityheritage
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

The October 1961 obituary column remembered Fred Spaulding, former owner of the King Strang Hotel; John Grill Sr., who worked as a Stephens Lumber Company scaler before operating a Beaver Island grocery; Perry Smith of Charlevoix, married to former island resident Ruth Gatliff; and Helen Cole McClean, a former island resident who operated the King Strang Hotel and owned the property later known as Gillespie’s Garage.

Evidence and limits

This grouped newspaper notice preserves the island connections and reported burial places where given, but it is not a complete obituary or civil record for any of the four people.

Sources

Beaver Beacon, October 1961, “Obituaries.”
Reports Fred Spaulding, former King Strang Hotel owner, dying in Chicago September 2 with burial at Bay City; John Grill Sr., 91, former Stephens Lumber Company scaler and grocer in the store later operated by Lloyd McDonough, dying in Grand Rapids; Perry Smith of Charlevoix, husband of former Ruth Gatliff, dying in early September; and Helen Cole McClean, former island resident and operator of the King Strang Hotel and owner of the property later known as Gillespie’s Garage, dying unexpectedly September 27 with burial at Tawas City. It does not provide complete civil or funeral records.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-10_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, October 1961, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-10_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “October 1961 Beacon obituaries remember four Beaver Island-connected people”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-death-notices-october-1961/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, October 1961, “Obituaries.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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