Lois Ann Dentel

Lois Ann Burgess was born on June 20th, 1939, to Henry and Marie Burgess in Lansing, Michigan. She spent most of her life in service of the needs of others. Born during the Depression, she was always frugal and practical. She grew up on her father’s farm in Capac, Michigan with older brother Bill and younger sister Jan during World War 2. As a child she most enjoyed spending summers with her grandmother, who introduced her to painting, a passion she held for the rest of her life. Education was also important to Lois’s family as Henry was a longtime teacher and principal.

After graduating from Capac High School in 1957, Lois attended Michigan State University where she studied education and prepared to be a teacher. She met her husband, George Dentel, when he came to conduct her choir rehearsal at her church in East Lansing. They married in 1961. Not long after, George was called back to service in the Army due to the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and Lois, while pregnant with her first daughter, was uprooted to Fort Benning, Georgia, where she took on new and unexpected adventures that accompany serving as the wife and support of a U.S. soldier.

As was her spirit, she continued to nourish her love for children and education. She began raising her own children beginning with Susan in 1962, Ann in 1965, and Charles in 1968. Her fortitude carried her family through many hard times. She helped make ends meet through substitute teaching, neighborhood childcare, and part-time work at local department stores while always singing and playing piano in her church choir.

She began her career with Eastern Michigan University in the mid 1970s, first in the housing department, but settling in as the secretary to the dean of the art department, where she helped many students navigate their courses, requirements, and degrees. She retired in the mid 1990s and enjoyed traveling, painting, singing, and gardening, but most of all her family and seven grandchildren, Taylor, Ben, Max, Jackson, Caroline, Kate, and Xavier. She will be remembered for her strength, creativity, intellect, and her unwavering support and love for her husband, children, and grandchildren.

Flowers and cards can be sent to George Dentel Family, 645 Allison Drive, Ann Arbor MI 48103

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Food Gathers: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.foodgatherers.org/get-involved/donatepage/give-funds/donate-form/__;!!M2D_dUfSiN4E!M8vaWlFGZT8zbTnupPaOkU_Nysonr8TtIurFfaBTjgscBoYwXjKtqdAyrldVLXzbsmS8z-fayd1Lk7hOFp_cHOrtYA$