Marialyce Canonie

Marialyce Welsh Canonie, longtime South Haven, Michigan resident, passed away on January 30, 2010 at the age of 90.

Marialyce was born on October 20, 1919, in Peoria, Illinois. She was the second child and eldest daughter of Leslie and Anna Welsh. Her family was of Irish/Welsh origin. They were descended from Thomas Grant, a first cousin of Ulysses S. Grant.

The Welshes lived on and operated a farm in the rural town of Bradford, in the heart of north central Illinois. When her mother died unexpectedly in 1932, Marialyce took on the duties of raising her four siblings. Marialyce graduated from Bradford High School in June 1937. She attended Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. She graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education.

After graduation, Marialyce set out on her own, and her life was about to change forever. She landed her first teaching job in Covert, Michigan, in the fall of 1941. While teaching that first year, she met and fell in love with local Covert resident Tony Canonie. Like so many other Americans of that era, their relationship was accelerated by the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. They were married on January 17, 1942, and soon after Mr. Canonie enlisted in the newly-formed US Navy Construction Battalion, popularly known as “the Seabees”.

Their 1942 marriage was a pivotal point in both of their lives. Mr. Canonie returned victoriously from the South Pacific in 1945, and the couple settled in South Haven. After purchasing one used Navy surplus dump truck, they began the small construction company that would eventually grow to become the Canonie Companies, a nationally-known leader in the heavy construction and waste-removal industries. Marialyce and Mr. Canonie would remain in South Haven for the duration of their 56 ½ year marriage, which ended with Mr. Canonie’s death on August 7, 1998.

Marialyce Canonie is survived by six children: Anne (Herman) Weinrep, Morton Grove, Illinois; Tony (Cathy) Canonie, Coloma, Michigan; James Canonie, New Buffalo, Michigan; Patricia (Rick) Bubin, Coloma, Michigan; John and Jerome Canonie, South Haven, Michigan. She is also survived by three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and her sister, Gloria Welsh Voorhees of San Diego, California.

Marialyce always steadfastly maintained that she was most proud of her successful marriage and her six children, that those were her greatest accomplishments. Still, while balancing the traditional roles of mother/citizen/homemaker, she managed to live out a very interesting life. She was active in the local St. Basil’s parish and school all her life. She was president of the St. Basil Altar and Rosary Society in 1948-49. She was a founder and member of the first school board of St Basil’s School, which opened in 1949 and has operated ever since. She was the first woman elected to the parish council, and was a founding member of the St. Basil Endowment Foundation. In 1964, she was named “Catholic Woman of the Year” by Michigan’s Catholic diocese in Lansing.

Marialyce did not confine her activities to her local parish. She was a volunteer substitute teacher in the South Haven area for over 25 years. Her community involvement also included the Campfire Girls, den mother for the Boy Scouts, the South Haven Charter Commission, and the South Haven Hospital’s Operation Push drive.

Marialyce was an avid sportswoman and sports sponsor. In 1963, when the local school millage failed, she donated much time to driving school sports teams to various venues. She sponsored many boys and girls teams during the summer months, when school was not in session. She personally sponsored the boys’ “Babe Ruth” baseball team with Dale Patterson for several summers. And she aided the South Haven women’s golf association in sending numerous local girls to golf camp, helping to raise girls’ golf from club status to that of a thriving varsity sport.

In her senior years, Marialyce continued her vibrant, active life. She was one of the founding members of the Michigan Maritime Museum. In 1988, her children gifted her with the Marialyce Canonie Great Lakes Research Library, which is now located in the historic Coast Guard Lighthouse Keepers home on Michigan Avenue in South Haven. She was also a founding member of the South Haven Community Foundation, and served two three-year terms on its board.

After she and Mr. Canonie acquired a winter home in Davie, Florida, Marialyce was able to more fully pursue her lifelong love of golf. In her home library are tiny “hole-in-one” trophies she notched in 1980 and 1986. Also during this time, the Canonie Companies dredge that had been christened in her name in 1980, was instrumental in the enormous clean-up of the area devastated by the Mount St. Helens disaster.

Throughout her entire life, Marialyce was a voracious reader, avidly interested in many subjects. She was curious about politics, sports, science, history, religion, literature, and the arts. Her den was usually filled with assorted newspapers, books, and magazines. Like Mr. Lincoln of her native Illinois, she was an admirer of “great truths greatly expressed.”

Marialyce leaves us with the legacy of a life truly well lived. The sphere of her life was very large indeed. She had a keen appreciation of what Irish novelist James Joyce meant when he noted, in his own senior years, “how deep is the place from which our life flows.”

Marialyce Canonie, right up to the very end of her life, maintained an unflinching spirit and an unquenchable love of life. She sought always to pass this energy on, to her family and her wide legion of friends. It will be her lasting legacy.

Visitation will on Tuesday, February 2 from 2-4 and 6-8 PM with Rosary at 7:30 PM. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Wednesday, February 3 at 11:00 AM at St. Basil Catholic Church with Rev. Father Robert Flickinger officiating. Burial will take place at Lakeview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to St. Basil Endowment Fund and Hospice at Home. Kindly share your thoughts and memories on the family’s online guest book at www.FilbrandtFFH.com.

The family is being helped by the Filbrandt Family Funeral Home of South Haven at 637-0333.