Alice F. Atkin

Alice F. Atkin, 91, passed away March 26, 2016, in Boulder, CO. Born July 8, 1924 in Goodman, WI, to pioneer parents, Anton and Paulina Anilionis, both deceased. She attended schools there and continued her education with a secretarial certificate from Metropolitan Business College in Chicago. She pursued a secretarial career with the Merchants Dispatch Transportation Corp. in Chicago, the Goodman Lumber Co. in Goodman, and retired after 19 years with Michigan State University. Prior to moving to East Lansing in 1967, she co-managed with her husband, a private fishing club in Goodman. In her new community, she served as Block Captain and Secretary for the Tamarisk Neighborhood Assoc., Vice President of the Lansing Art Guild, and Vice President and Secretary of the Garden Club of Greater Lansing. She also enjoyed Memberships in the Wednesday Night Book Club, MSU Business Women’s Club, Spartan Senior Retirees, Capital Area Quilt Guild, and St. John’s Student Parish. She faithfully attended concert performances at MSU and of the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Her passion for art propelled her abroad to visit museums in London, Paris, Southern France, Rome, Florence, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Riga, Innsbruck, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Toronto and in many cities in the U.S. as she and her husband traveled extensively. An urge to witness her parent’s origins and to meet many relatives was accomplished on her visits to Lithuania in 1978 and 1981. She quietly supported local charities, volunteering for various projects, among them Meals on Wheels. Her marriage of 45 very happy years to John Atkin ended when he succumbed to cancer in 1995. She is predeceased by an extraordinary daughter, Diana, a sister Bernice Schultz, and brother Anton Anilionis. She is survived by precious granddaughter, Simone, of Raleigh, NC; niece, Maryte Anilionis of Longmont, CO, niece, Jean Woodbury of Houghton, MI; and nephew Ray Anilionis of Centennial, CO; as well as many relatives in Lithuania and dear family members of her husband.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 10:00am at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home, 1730 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing, Michigan. The family will receive friends on Friday, April 1, 2016 from 6pm to 7:30pm at the funeral home. Interment will follow in Deepdale Memorial Gardens in Lansing, Michigan.

In memory of Alice, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Capital Area Region, 2111 University Park St., Suite 200, Okemos, MI 48864. Online condolences may be expressed at www.greastlansing.com.