Louis James Archer

Louis J. Archer, 81, of St. Joseph, Died Sunday, January 20, 2002 at Lakeland Specialty Hospital ? Berrien Center. Funeral service will be at 11:00 A.M., Tuesday at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Officiating the service will be Rev. Wade Panse. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, January 21, 2002, at the funeral home. Burial will be in North Shore Memory Gardens, Hagar Shores. Memorials may be made to the Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan, P.O. Box 305, St. Joseph, MI 49085. He was born Dec. 17, 1920, to Harry and Dorothea (Langston) Archer in Derby, Michigan. He graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 1940. On Dec. 27, 1941, he entered the United States Navy and became Photographer?s Mate Second Class V-6. He fought in the North African invasion and the South pacific on the USS Sangamon. During his time in the service he attended the Eastman Kodak School in Rochester, N.Y.; Aerial Camera Repair School Fairchild aviation Inc.; Photographic School in Pensacola, FL. He was Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL., on Nov. 8, 1945. In 1949, he joined Whirlpool Corporation and when he retired in 1985, he was employed in the Photo Lab as an artist/retoucher. On July 1, 1951, he married the former Marian Bailey in Lansing, MI., and she survives him along with three daughters ? Beth (Mark) Baggett of Clarksville, TN., Lisa (Richard) Wahl of Holland, MI., Lori J. Archer of Slidell, LA; six grandchildren ? Jason Barnes, Eric Barnes, Coy Baggett, Cody Wahl, Courtney Wahl, Zo? Archer Lundquist; one sister, Dorothea (Dean) Neller of Benton Harbor. His sister, Natalie Mawhinney, preceded Mr. Archer in death.