Note
SDHC email:
Saturday, August 14 at 1 p.m.
Saugatuck Village Square
May Heath Memorial Plaque Dedication
A bronze plaque memorial honoring May Francis Heath (1873-1961), early Saugatuck historian, writer, teacher, artist and civic leader, will be unveiled and dedicated to the people of Saugatuck in a public ceremony at the water fountain in Saugatuck Village Square on Saturday, August 14 at 1pm.
This event, funded by donations from the Saugatuck/Douglas Historical Society, Saugatuck/Douglas Art Club, Heath family descendants and friends, will feature commemorative comments by Allegan County Historian John Paul and the Historical Society's Marsha Kontio, Peg Sanford and Chris Yoder. Saugatuck Woman's Club President Karen Drongowski will comment on the Club's recently created May Heath Scholarship and introduce its first scholarship recipient. May Francis Heath's three great-grandchildren will speak and then unveil the plaque. Refreshments will follow.
As granddaughter of S. A. Morrison, the man credited with naming Saugatuck when the town's first post office opened, May Heath was one of Saugatuck's most influential citizens of her time. She was instrumental in establishing Saugatuck Woman's Club, Saugatuck-Douglas Art Club and the town's first public lending library, spearheaded historical events such as the 1930 centennial celebration, and was personally responsible for preventing the cutting down of the Saugatuck Treaty Oak, which still stands on the west side of Holland Street north of Francis Street.
May Heath is perhaps most widely remembered here as the author of "Early Memories of Saugatuck, Michigan 1830 to 1930", considered a masterpiece of personal retrospective and a major reference work on local history. Historical Society volunteer Rob Carey found an out-of-print edition of Heath's book, scanned and edited its contents, adding a previously published biographical sketch of Heath while Saugatuck author/historian Kit Lane created an index for the new edition. The enhanced book, reprinted by the Society and offered in 6x9" soft-cover format, includes woodcut illustrations by noted artist Carl Hoerman.
The next event planned for the celebration of May Heath's life will be a program presented by Marsha Kontio at the Woman's Club on October 8 at 2 pm, titled "Tea with May Heath: Stories Of The Famous Local Historical Matriarch".
A series of articles about the life, times and accomplishments of May Francis Heath is available in the Historical Society's monthly newsletters, December 2009 through current, which can be viewed and printed out on www.sdhistoricalsociety.org; select News Library, then E-News.
![MayMemorial-TheGreatGrandchildren-AfterUnveiling-crp.jpg 528KB: Introductions for Heath Great-Grandchildren, in order of their birth, then will ask each to come up and say a few words:
Bill Bleeker, grandson of May's son Ted Heath (wearing light blue shirt)
"[I] spent the last 52 summers in Saugatuck-- I lived with my cousins Lisa & Jim at Goshorn lake for many great summers. Worked at Wersma blueberry farms till I was 16 then worked at Clearbrook CC for the next 7summers and also was a life guard at the Oval for 8 years. Moved to Aspen co in 1983 after having way too many drinks with Al Pendorf at Wallys. Have been there ever since and married the love of my life Barbara in 1990. We are both in the Ski industry. We have a small cattle ranch just outside Aspen and own the Captain George P Crawford house on Captains row on Griffith street in Saugatuck.( which we of course named Heathcote ) I am the longest residing citizen of Saugatuck 1835--- 175 years and still going strong."
Grandchildren of May's Daughter Gladys Barron
Jim Barron Diaz
"Entered the world about the same time that his great grandma May Heath was leaving it, so we are both celebrating a 50th anniversary this year. Spent all his summers as a youth in Saugatuck, cranking the Ferry across the river for tips and going to Oxbow School of Art. Currently lives in Lafayette, CA with his wife, Ramona, and two kids, Ray and Ava. Co-Founder of Affine Systems, an online video ad technology company in San Francisco, CA."
Lisa Diaz Nash
""Lisa Diaz Nash is so happy to be back in Saugatuck, where she, her brother, Jim, and cousin Bill spent so many wonderful summers growing up.
"After college, Lisa went off to Hong Kong and Taiwan to study Mandarin Chinese, work as a tour guide in China and see the world. She wound up working for American Express in Asia for 9 years, where she married her husband, Michael, and had their first daughter, Sarah. They moved back to the States in 1989 and, after a year in NY/NJ, moved out to the San Francisco Bay Area, where they've lived ever since. Their second daughter, Mary (named after Mary Elizabeth Peckham Morrison of Saugatuck renowned), was born in 1992. Lisa has held several senior marketing positions with major consumer brand companies as well as start ups. For the past three years, she has led Blue Planet Network, www.blueplanetnetwork.org, a non-profit that raises awareness and funds for safe drinking water projects throughout the developing world."](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/4124/03247db1-4316-11f0-ae79-a77f07fc4965-vUU14b5.lg@2x.jpg)
