Vlasta Petzke

Vlasta (Val) (Getz) Petzke, 86, of Stevensville, passed away Sunday, August 29, 2010 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 11:00 A.M. Wednesday at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, with Rev. Wade Panse officiating. Burial will follow at Lincoln Township Cemetery in Stevensville. Friends may call from 5:00 until 7:00 P.M. Tuesday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Humane Society of Southwest Michigan. Those wishing to sign Val's Memory Book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Mrs. Petzke was born December 23, 1923, in Cudahy, Wisconsin, to Joseph & Sophia Getz. On June 27, 1942, she married Arthur Petzke in St. Joseph. Together they owned and operated Art's Bar in Baroda for 18 years. They celebrated over fifty-five years of marriage before his death on March 3, 1997. Val was a member of Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ in St. Joseph and a volunteer at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph. She enjoyed tending to her flower gardens around the house. Mrs. Petzke is survived by two sons-Ronald (Barbara) Petzke of St. Joseph, Richard (Linda) Petzke of Parker, Colorado; five grandchildren-Cheryl (Paul) Havens of Jenison, MI, Laura Vennie of St. Joseph, Melissa (Josh) Beckmann of Benton Harbor, Bill (Merinda) Petzke of Colorado, Jon Petzke of Colorado; three great-grandchildren-Elizabeth Havens, Landon & Oliver Beckmann; and two brothers-Charles Getz of Baroda, Edward (Jeanne) Getz of Stevensville. In addition to her husband, Val was preceded in death by a brother, Arnold Getz.