Lenore Huston

With a generous heart Lenore Huston lived a life rich in family and friends. A natural servant, Lenore used her gifts to ensure the well-being of others. Lenore was a living example who courageously welcomed any opportunity to give to others. She generously shared her blessings, hardships, faith, and hope, often affording others safe harbor in the face of life’s storms. With a persevering spirit, Lenore met every challenge with confidence and each day as a gift. In so doing, she showed others that they could overcome their obstacles as she had overcome hers. A devoted mother, grandmother, and friend, Lenore’s beautiful legacy will long live in the hearts of those she loved.

Despite the obvious gloom of the Great Depression and the growing conflict in Europe, many families found the way to continue to center their lives in love and hope for a brighter future. Nowhere was that hope more evident than in the Chicago, Illinois home of William Clare and Beatrice Brooks Hunt as they welcomed their daughter Lenore into their family on February 17, 1936.

In 1937, The Hunt Family moved from Wheaton, Illinois to Kalamazoo to start the Kalamazoo 7-Up Distributing Company. Lenore’s uncle, Phillips Brooks, founded the 7-Up Bottling Company of Michigan in Holland, Michigan, and the entire family was involved in the business. As a child, Lenore enjoyed the good company of her dog, Nifty, and attending Big Band concerts with her father. Seeing Tommy Dorsey, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and other bands play at local venues planted the seeds for a lifelong love of music. She amassed a large collection of 78 RPM records that were truly a treasure. Though Lenore was an only child, she had many aunts, uncles, and cousins with whom she would spend Summers in Onekama, on Lake Michigan.

After graduating from Kalamazoo Central High School with the class of 1954, Lenore attended North Park College in Chicago. In 1960 she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Michigan University, where she met her future husband. She also attended Parson’s Business School, where she learned keypunch, shorthand, and other secretarial skills. Early in her career, Lenore worked for Kalamazoo Social Services as a social worker in her early career. Later, she worked at Tarnow’s Restaurant and Sarkozy Bakery. She enjoyed the people she met who were patrons of the restaurants.

A proud mother, Lenore was very supportive of her children’s interests and education. Richard, Kevin, and Jayne were the centers of her world, and she worked hard to provide for them. She made a special effort to share her love of the arts and the gift of good food with them. She loved taking her mother and children to Hogsett Lake and Milham Park for picnics and special celebrations and continuing the tradition of sharing holidays with her cousins and aunts in Battle Creek. As her children grew, she relished sharing their interests. She loved attending band concerts at West Main Elementary and Oakwood Jr High, where her daughter, Jayne, played the trombone. Many trips with her son Kevin were enjoyed, including Atlanta, Sedona, AZ, Hilton Head, SC, and New Orleans, LA. She also loved attending plays at the Kalamazoo Junior Civic and Civic Theaters to watch her son, Richard II, act. Later in life, she enjoyed traveling to Florida to visit her grandchildren.

A 29-year, two-time cancer survivor, Lenore’s greatest day was when she asked Jesus Christ to be her personal Savior in 1972. She attended the Kalamazoo Free Methodist Church and, later, North Presbyterian Church. She wanted everyone to know the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and often found strength in her favorite Bible verse, Psalms 94:19 “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

A student of life, Lenore always welcomed opportunities to grow and share her experiences. She loved music, art, socializing, and especially reading. She enjoyed going to art museums and the Kalamazoo Institute for Arts and was always abreast of current events and their impact on those with mental health issues. She loved walking everywhere around Kalamazoo and especially enjoyed hiking in the woods with her children and even hiked part of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Her favorite place was Marshall Field’s store on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. She would talk about Chicago as if it was the Emerald City of Oz, enthusiastically describing her favorite museums and restaurants in the Windy City.

For most of her adult life, Lenore endured mental illness and generously used her own experiences to advocate for other mental health consumers. She volunteered for and served on the board of various county and state mental health organizations, including the Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services as well as Ministry With Community. She wrote a short book, How To Survive Mental Illness Without Going Crazy, based on her experiences, and in 2009, at age 73, was awarded the Sharing Time and Resources (STAR) Senior Volunteer award from the Kalamazoo Gazette and the Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo for her volunteer work on community mental health issues.

Clearly, it is difficult to imagine life in the absence of Lenore’s steadfast presence. May the many sweet memories we hold in our hearts of this special woman afford deep comfort. May it also be of comfort to know that we carry the best gifts of her legacy forward in our own lives. In each moment we choose faith over fear, love others with all our hearts, courageously share our stories, and freely give of our talents, we celebrate the many ways Lenore gifted our lives. In so doing, Lenore’s love and light will continue to inspire others as she so inspired us.

Lenore E Huston died on March 31, 2021. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Clare Hunt and Beatrice Brooks Hunt, and a son, Douglas Huston. She is survived by three children, Richard D. Huston II of East Lansing, MI, Kevin C. Huston of Asheville, NC, and Jayne E. Martin of Portage, MI. Three grandchildren, Lillian Rose (Sean) Sonntag of Palm Bay, FL, Aileen Marie DelRio of Palm Bay, FL, and Holly Belle Huston of Astatula, FL, along with great-grandsons, Nathanial Sonntag and Travis Huston of Florida. Cremation has taken place and services will be announced. Visit Lenore’s webpage at BetzlerLifeStory.com to archive favorite memories, photos and sign her guestbook. Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes, 6080 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo (269) 375-2900.