Heartbroken family to attend Friday’s funeral service
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
Monday was Deb Stuifbergen?s 51st birthday and her family was getting together for lunch to celebrate the occasion. Her husband Gary?s birthday is Sunday, so the close-knit family always celebrates them together.
Marcy Walters was heading from Cheboygan to her parent?s house on Kisser Road and received a text message from her sister Leann Shoulders, who everyone knows as Scooter, writing they were meeting for lunch and going to pick up Nick at his place along North Palmer Road.
Deb, who worked at Hitchcock?s Adult Foster Care Home, had a received a surprise phone call from work earlier in the day and was told she could take the rest of the day off.
Deb and Scooter picked Nick up just around noon. He took over the driving duties, while Deb climbed into the back seat behind him. Scooter was sitting in the front passenger seat when they pulled away and turned onto westbound Hutchinson Highway.
?I drove with my brother a million times,? said Walters. ?He putzes along that road. I used to tease him, ?are you going to get there today, grandma.? I know he wasn?t speeding, I know that.?
Walters responded to Scooter?s text at exactly 12:11 p.m. Presque Isle County central dispatch received a 9-1-1 call of a head-on crash on Hutchinson Highway at 12:12 p.m., moments in time that will forever be engraved in the memories of Gary Stuifbergen, Greg Shoulders, Walters and her children.
Funeral services for Deb, 51, Scooter, 27, and Nick, 23, are today(Friday) at Joy Community Church, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. and running until the time of the service at 2 p.m.
?I?M STILL IN shock,? said Walters, with an exhausted, grief stricken expression. ?It is hard to believe you can lose that many from a family in seconds.? Gary Stuifbergen said there is only one way to handle the loss and that?s by moving forward.
?I guess most people think I?m strong or brave, or whatever, it?s not that,? said Stuifbergen, ?There?s no choice. You go forward. I have one daughter left and two grandchildren, and a son in-law, that?s where we are. I handle it one day at a time. ?I?ve rebuilt houses and fixed other people?s stuff?but one thing I can tell you, I?ve never found a cure for a broken heart. Time won?t heal a broken heart.?
GREG SHOULDERS had been married to Scooter for 10 years. His first wife died of a rare blood disease and Scooter helped raise his children from the ages of five and nine. They moved to Millersburg four years ago.
This will be the third funeral of a close family member in as many months. His parents passed away downstate in November and December, respectively. Shoulders said Scooter was there for him during his personal time of mourning. Gary described her in one word: ?love — that?s it. Animals, people. Scoot was nothing but love.?
Shoulders said his wife was concerned about an Onaway family that lost all of their belongings in a trailer fire along Five Mile Highway a few weeks ago and wanted to donate items.
?She (Scooter) was worried about their kids and wanted to donate clothes,? said Shoulders.
?MOM WAS mom to everybody,? said Walters. ?She was very loving and kind.? Walters had moved back to the area with her daughter Krystal in September, and Deb and her granddaughter spent every Saturday night together watching movies. ?My daughter, when I first told her, she cried. Her grandma was her best friend.? Gary and Deb had been married since 1982, but had known each other for 30 years. ?Deb loved her kids, she loved her family and she would do anything for them,? said Stuifbergen.
?She loved to paint and was very artistic,? said Walters. ?She was much loved up there (Hitchcock?s). The ladies are taking it kind of tough.?
NICK WAS a hard worker, said Stuifbergen, ?and all he wanted to do was survive and not bother anybody.? He helped his niece with her homework and had plans to take her camping this summer.
Nick was a standout football player for Onaway High School. In the high school football preview of 2002, it was noted that he was an important piece of the offensive line at a guard position, where he went on to earn all-state accolades. His football jersey will be draped on his casket. Nick also played linebacker on defense, wrestled and set weight lifting records at the school.
WALTERS DIDN?T find out about the accident until 1:30 p.m. when someone heard about it on a scanner and called her. Stuifbergen and Walters went to the scene of the accident, but weren?t allowed to go to where the vehicles were located until the bodies had been removed.
The mourning family has been left with grief, but some anger and bitterness as well.
?I don?t think 16-year-old kids should even be allowed to leave school premises during their lunch breaks,? said Walters. ?They?re not respo
?I?m angry. I?m very angry. I?m angry with the schools for allowing them to leave and I?m angry with the law right now.?
Walters believes there needs to be more traffic enforcement in the area, while Stuifbergen wanted more updates from the sheriff?s department. The family did not receive any calls or updates about the accident, said Walters.
SHOULDERS SAID they all were kind people and ?would give you the shoe off their foot if they knew you needed it more than them.?
?We haven?t got to the end of this. We still have to put them in the ground,? said Stuifbergen. ?I?ll do everything I can and Greg will do everything he can to help each other. ?It didn?t make us any closer. You couldn?t get us any closer than we already are.? Pastor Christopher Rasper will officiate at today?s service.