Marian Ruth Joseph

Marian Joseph died, aged 92, on March 26 at the Grand Traverse Pavilions nursing home in Traverse City. She had been a resident of the nursing home for the past two years. With her husband Bill, Marian ran the Grayling Mercantile Company for twenty years until the couple’s retirement in 1985. In addition to raising three children and working at the store, Marian was for several decades an active member of the Michelson Memorial United Methodist Church. She served the community through her work on the Grayling Promotional Association. She was president of the Grayling Chamber of Commerce from 1979 to 1980. Marian Ruth Huntington was born in 1922 in Bowne Center, Mich., but grew up in Eaton Rapids with her parents and three brothers. She attended Eaton Rapids High School, served as class president for a year, and graduated in 1939. She studied business at Cleary College (now Cleary University), where she met Bill Joseph of Grayling. Bill was sent to Europe during World War II, but when he returned he and Marian were married, on Valentine’s Day 1946. The couple settled in Grayling, where Bill’s family had run the Mercantile for many years. Bill and Marian took over the store when Bill’s father died in 1965. The Grayling Mercantile Company, or “Merc” as many people affectionately called it, was a locally-owned department store in downtown Grayling. It carried a full line of clothing, shoes, luggage, formal wear, and the like for every age and occasion. Bill and Marian expanded the company significantly to include a carpeting and window-covering business, as well as two ski shops, at the Skyline Ski Area and Hanson Hills. At its peak, the company employed about forty people. Bill Joseph died in 1992. Marian continued to live in Grayling until 2010, when she moved to Meadow Brook nursing home in Bellaire. She moved to the Grand Traverse Pavilions in 2012. Marian is survived by her three children, Bill Joseph of Traverse City, Marilyn Stancil of Grayling, and Richard Joseph of Charlevoix; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held at the Michelson Memorial United Methodist Church, 400 Michigan Avenue, Grayling, at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, followed by a funeral service at noon. Donations can be made in Marian’s name to the Grayling Promotional Association

Marian Ruth Joseph

April 4, 1922 - March 26, 2015