Individual Details

Death

Lucille Hazell was both strong minded and tender hearted. She experienced harsh economic conditions in childhood that firmed her character and toughened her resolve in adulthood. She was most often serious, yet she cultivated joy through her love of art and nature. Open-minded in her thinking and industrious in her everyday life, Lucille put her experiences to good and fought for worthy causes. Lucille was the youngest in a family of over ten children, growing up in an impoverished community of Blytheville, Arkansas. Her father worked a variety of jobs in an effort to provide for his family during extremely difficult times. Though the importance of education for girls was not stressed in her household, Lucille completed school through the 8th or 9th grade and showed artistic talent, especially in drawing. However, marriage at age 15 steered Lucille toward home and family. Lucille married Jack Furr, who was ten years her senior, and soon her life was filled with parenting. Four children were born to Lucille and Jack, and when he was stationed in Battle Creek during his military duty, the Furrs settled in Michigan. They were joined by several of her family who made the move easier, yet her marriage ended in divorce in 1950. Having met Al Hazell in a factory where they both worked in Kalamazoo, Lucille and Al were soon committed to one another. They eloped to South Bend, Indiana on July 2, 1951 and began their life together. Lucille gave birth to two more children, and the household was filled with the warmth of family and delicious home-style southern cooking. In the 1960s, Lucille went to work for Eckridge, where she experienced discrimination serious enough to warrant a lawsuit, which she subsequently won. By the late 60s, she began a new venture when she bought a pet poodle. Setting up shop on her kitchen table, Lucille started a pet grooming business from home and loved it. She was also very good at what she did, and “Lucille Dog Grooming” grew as word of her success spread. In 1994, Lucille survived a very serious, life threatening car accident and shortly after Al had a heart attack. It was then that their children decided the two of them needed a barrier free home and began to build one in Portage. Working together on weekends, their family completed the house in a year and Lucille couldn’t have been happier. With a beautiful yard of flowers and feeders to attract birds, the home was just perfect. Besides shopping with her daughter and visiting friends and family, Lucille was content to be at home reading books (non-fiction and biographies), watching comedian Rosanne and programs about UFOs, playing cards with Al and listening to country musicians like Alan Jackson. They formed many friendships with people in the Baptist Church in Kalamazoo, and Lucille exercised her right of free speech as a strong Democrat. The perceptive Lucille was attracted to the paranormal and intrigued by “the other side.” She was in tune with her senses and attentive to premonitions. Still, she was a down-to-earth lover of animals and children and, combining both affections, Lucille often took her grandchildren to lovely parks and beautiful Lake Michigan. In November of 2014, Lucille broke her hip and was cared for in a nursing home. The “tough old bird,” as she was affectionately called, never gave up. Even dementia had the effect of turning her grittiness into a sweetness that her family will miss and cherish. Lucille Hazell passed away Monday, December 29, 2014. She was preceded in death by husband, Allen “Al” Hazell in 2004; son, Dennis Furr in 2007; daughter, Patsy Colliau 2009 and by all her siblings. Surviving are her children: Kathie (Joe) Ortiz, Sandra (Lyle) Berry, John (Kim) Hazell and Jack (Rose) Furr; 12 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Kalamazoo Animal Rescue.