Dawn Tillotson

Dawn Tillotson, 101, longtime resident of Walloon Lake passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Tuesday, March 21, 2017.  Her family plans to remember and celebrate her life during a memorial service at Walloon Lake Community Church at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, March 25; Pastor Jeff Ellis will officiate. 

Dawn was born November 17, 1915 in Lansing, the daughter of George and Martha Jeanette (Hazen) Grantham.  She grew up in East Lansing, where she attended East Lansing High School.  She went on to attend Michigan State University where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in 1937, she went on to serve an internship in Cincinnati, Ohio.

On September 30, 1939, she married Kenneth W. Tillotson in East Lansing, Michigan.  Dawn and Kenneth eventually made their home in Walloon Lake.  Dawn worked for Little Traverse Hospital as head of the Dietary Department, she also worked for Charlevoix Area Hospital, Beverly Manor, and for a time worked as cook for Melrose School.  Dawn was a member of the American Dietician Association and the Michigan Dietician Association.  She served as a hospice volunteer and in 1998 was awarded Hospice Volunteer of the Year for the area.  She was an avid reader, she also enjoyed knitting, gardening, picking morels, exploring seasonal roads, riding motorcycles, photography, and travel.  Her travels took her to Alaska and overseas to Israel.  Dawn was an amazing person and a wonderful mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother. Her calm disposition, her moral character and tremendous perseverance were all an example to her family.  She will be forever loved and dearly missed.

Dawn’s surviving family include her 6 children, Martha Jepsen, Cindy (Carl) Reed, Anne Merchant, Shiela (David) Blough, Georgia (Tim) McCracken, and John (Teresa) Tillotson, 17 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband, Kenneth, and her son-in-law Don Jepsen. 

Friend wishing to remember Dawn with a charitable contribution are asked to consider Hospice of Little Traverse Bay.

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