Oakdale


Book Description

The Lapeer State Home has been a large part of the history of Lapeer County since its beginnings in 1895. After starting with three buildings and housing for 200 patients, the facility grew to encompass several hundred acres and, at its peak, accommodating over 4,000 patients. The history of the home includes a variety of memories from staff members, patients, and visitors who once walked its halls. Images of America: Oakdale: The Lapeer State Home provides a journey of this historic institution and attempts to bring some clarity to questions that remain about the home and its past.




Joelle’s Cry for Justice


Book Description

Jacqueline Gates’ life changed forever one wintry morning in 1987. Her ten-year-old daughter, Joelle Rosebush, had been hit by a car as she crossed the street to come home with her two siblings, Heather and Keith. After a few days, the hospital couldn’t do anything else for Joelle, and a helicopter transferred her to a new hospital where she spent six months on a respirator in a pediatric intensive care unit. In this heartfelt account, the author shares the emotions she and her family navigated as Joelle spent eighteen months in a vegetative state and the wrenching decision of taking her off life support after consulting with a medical bioethics committee, a social worker, family priest, and medical staff. At the time, there was no law in Michigan that allowed parents to remove a child from life support. Gates also shares numerous poems, Bible verses, educational resources on grief, and insights on how journaling, leaning on the Lord, and drawing on her faith helped her find a positive side to grief. Whether you’re struggling with a loved one’s poor health or illness or on your own grief journey, the author’s experience will show that you’re not alone.




Lapeer Area


Book Description

Legends about the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Nepessing Indians have left an indubitable mark upon the Lapeer area. Streets, rivers, and towns sing out the melody of their ageless legacy, just as those first settlers of Lapeer left their footprints upon the towns and cities for generations to follow. Like a comfortable rocker, the lyrics of hospitality linger, whispering of a way of life not easily left within the pages of a history book. Frugal, yet compassionate, these early pioneers shared their meager provisions and scant shelters with the tribes and wayward travelers alike. Lumberjacks sawed and farmers harvested their crops, threshed their grain, raised their barns, and worshipped together. Feuds never lasted and families never parted. The people of the Lapeer area worked, voted, and played together, creating a place of beauty for the generations they would never know. The gentle rolling hillsides still ring with their music, whether it is the moccasin footsteps of the first hunter, the boot-clad lumberjack or farmer, or the European tradition of riding to the hounds-for here the panoramic view of the Lapeer area comes alive with heritage, horses, and hills.




The Younge Site


Book Description

In 1935, archaeologist Emerson F. Greenman excavated the Younge site of Lapeer County, Michigan. In this volume, he describes the site and the archaeological material found there, including the remains of two large enclosures, 57 burials, pottery, tobacco pipes, and stone and bone tools.