Grandma Dedafoe's Scrapbook
FENNER, Carl G.
Lansing
Age 92, passed away on November 26, 1991. He was born July 23, 1899, on a farm near St.
Louis, MI, where his father had cleared the land when he came to this country from Germany. Mr.
Fenner graduated from St. Louis High School. After spending one year as a lumberman in Northern
Michigan, he came to Lansing to attend Michigan Agricultural College for 2 years. During 1920
and 1921, he lived in West Virginia, working in the coal mines, and working for Davey Tree
Company. He returned of Michigan Agricultural College (M.A.C.), graduated in 1923, and was
appointed Assistant Forester by H. Lee Bancroft, Lansing's first Superintendent of Parks. He
was later appointed City Forester; and ultimately was made Director of Parks and Recreating. One
of his major contributions to the City of Lansing was his development of the Arboretum, its Nature
Center and Prairie Scene. After his retirement in 1963, the Lansing City Council named the
Arboretum in his honor. Mr. Fenner was a Sunday School Teacher in the Lansing area for 51 years,
serving 39 years at First Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the MSU Alumni Association; a
Past President and Secretary of the Michigan Forestry and Park Association; Past President of the
International Forestry and Park Association (1953); and had given lectures on Nature and Forestry
both nationally and in Canada. As a Christian Education Consultant, he served over 100 churches
of many denomination, explaining and demonstrating the teaching methods of Jesus. He was married
to Marie NIES of Holland, MI, on April 4, 1925. Surviving are: wife of 67 years, Marie; 2
daughters, Mrs. Naomi (Thomas) GREEN of Lansing, Mrs. Rhonda SULLIVAN of Poughkeepsie, NY; 4
grandchildren, Laura GREEN, Thomas H. GREEN III, David SULLIVAN, Bruce SULLIVAN; 4 great
grandchildren. Religious services will be conducted by The Rev. Richard K. Heusinkeld of
Immanuel Community Reformed Church at 10 a.m. Saturday, November 30, 1991, in the Estes-Leadley
Greater Lansing Chapel, with interment in Evergreen Cemetery. Pallbearers will be his nephews.
The family will receive friends at the Funeral Home from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Friday. Memorials may
be made to either Friends of Fenner Arboretum, in care of the Funeral Home; First Presbyterian
Church; Immanual Community Reformed Church; or to the Greater Lansing Visiting Nurse Hospice.
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