Marlene Gagnon Obituary

This was Mom's first cousin, daughter of Uncle Tom Arthur. He was a brother to Grandma Arnold. He farmed a place on the EZ Way Bumps Road.( He farmed with my Dad's uncle George Miller. They were good friends.) It was called that because the paved road went over a series of bumps that would cause your stomach to jump when you went over the bumps.  All of us kids would zip down the road for the fun of it. EZWay was a popular kitchen stove built at the EZ Way factory for many decades (later renamed the Florence Stove factory and then in the 1960's the Roper Stove factory that built Roper, Whirlpool and Sears stoves.) He was the first son from the Somerset Kentucky Arthur family to move to the Kankakee area looking for a better life. He raised Gerties son Ricky as his own beginning in the 1950's.  His only son Ed was murdered just off Hobby Ave (in the colored district) after WW2. He was a vet.

  Marlene K. Gagnon, 73, of Kankakee, died Wednesday (June 15, 2011) at Provena Our Lady of Victory in Bourbonnais. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. Friday until the 11 a.m. funeral service at the Clancy-Gernon-Hertz Funeral Home, west Kankakee. The Rev. Hank Roso will officiate.

Burial will be in Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood. Memorials may be made to the family wishes.

Mrs. Gagnon retired from Carson Pirie Scott after 34 years, and had also been employed by Sears, Fair Store, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Hospice of Kankakee Valley. She was born Aug. 17, 1937, the daughter of James T. and Lina Whitaker Arthur.

Surviving are her husband, Donald H. Gagnon, whom she married March 12, 1986; one stepson, Dan Gagnon, of Ashkum; one stepdaughter and stepson-in-law, Julie and Jerry Glenzinski, of Bradley; three stepgrandchildren; one sister, Melba Bushey, of Kankakee; one brother and sister-in-law, Rick and Cathy Arthur, of Hillsboro, Ore.; and one nephew.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one sister, Helen Christensen; one brother, Edwin M. Arthur; and one niece.