Yetive Carr

Yetive Ialanda “Puzzle” Carr, age 95 years formerly of Niles, Michigan, mother, sister, and family matriarch died peacefully at 5:36 p.m. on Sunday, December 5, 2021 at her home in Cassopolis, Michigan following a brief illness.  Her family is grateful for the kind and compassionate care provided by her three nieces, Jennifer, Kathy, and Marcia during the last few months of her life.

She was born on March 25, 1926 in Mountain Lake, Minnesota to Christ F. and Anna (Penner) Hansen who gave each of their twelve children interesting nicknames, including Puzzle – because they had a sense of expecting a boy.  Her childhood was spent with her family following her father’s vocational career across the United States, with a final move to Niles in 1943 when Yetive began her career at the former Niles plant of Simplicity Pattern Company.  She supervised the pattern patter preparation department which she laid-out the pattern pieces and added the type prior to printing.  She retired in 1994, completing fifty-one years at Simplicity.  Her husband, Joe retired from Simplicity’s color plate room in 1994, having completed fifty years; so their combined service to Simplicity Pattern was one-hundred-and-one years.

Yetive was a member of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Niles.  She greatly enjoyed golfing, usually at Plym Park Golf Course in Niles, and played in many of the “industrial” leagues which represented Niles’ major manufacturers.  She also enjoyed hosting workplace celebrations both in the office and at home.

Her greatest interest was her family, and keeping them together through celebrations and reunions which required much organization as she had ten siblings.  The family home for many years was on Almaugus Drive in Niles.  Upon retirement, she and Joe built a new family home, well-designed for entertaining, and on the shore of Diamond Lake.  Wherever she called home was the site of many family gatherings throughout the years.  She was pleased to host the most recent family reunion in 2019.

On March 24, 1951 in Niles she married Joseph D. Carr, Jr. with whom she celebrated the remarkable Fiftieth Anniversary of their wedding prior to his death on November 9, 2001.  She was also preceded in death by her parents, and by her siblings, Gladys Ray, Joy Nichols, Vicki Bliss, Sharon Hansen, Christ Hansen, Jr., Jerry Hansen, Sr., Gene Hansen, and Harry Hansen who died in infancy.

Surviving family includes her son, Randy J. (& Jody) Carr of Trinidad, Texas; Yetives’s siblings, Lonnie (& Sharon) Hansen of Cyprus, California, Jan (& Barb) Hansen of Short Pump, Virginia, and Don (& Bonnie) Hansen of Seaford, Delaware; brother-in-law Norman “Bud” Nichols; and many, many nieces and nephews.

The funeral service for Yetive Carr will be at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 10, 2021 at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home, 615 East Main Street in Niles with the Rev. Joseph Liss of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Niles officiating.  Committal will follow at Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles.  The service will be available livestreamed on the Halbritter-Wickens Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/halbritterwickensfuneralservices/ .

The family will receive relatives and friends at the funeral home on Thursday from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.  Contributions in memory of Mrs. Carr may be made to Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1340 Sycamore Street, Niles, Michigan, 49120, https://www.stpaulsniles.org/ .  Online condolences may be left at:

www.halbritterwickens.com

Yetive was blessed with a long and healthy life, but more importantly, she used that blessing well, caring for her co-workers, fellow golfers, and family in wonderful ways; and fulfilling the mission to love God and love people.