Person:Arthur Van Aken (11)

Obituary

Ypsilanti ---

Jan 30, 1933

Mr. Van Aken established his plumbing and heating shop here 11 years ago across the street from the present establishment. He moved into the building now occupied by the store less than a year ago.

He was 56 years old and born on a farm near Sturgis. Before coming to Ypsilanti he was in the hardware business in Milan with his brother-in-law, M.J. Freeman, Royal Oak and previous to that had been employed as foreman of the Advance Rumley Co in Battle Creek. He was a member of the city association of plumbers and of the Methodist Church.

Besides his widow, Mrs. Helen Van Aken, he is survived by five children, Herbert, Alice, 21, Gretta, 18, Myrtle, 14, and Donald, 10, all at home; two sisters, Mrs. Daisy Freeman, Royal Oak, and Miss Ella Mae Van Aken, battle Creek; and one brother, Homer Van Aken, a battle Creek lawyer.

Arrangements for the funeral have not been completed but it is planned to make interment in Coldwater.

Biography in the Van Aken/Van Auken Newsletter

by Robert A. Van Auken

Who is it that you cannot wait until he comes and you hate it after he has been there? When you have a broken pipe or a toilet that will not flush, the first thing you think is "Call the Plumber”, but after he has been there and presented his bill, you are sorry you called him because plumbers are expensive.

Arthur Edward Van Aken was a plumber. It is not known if he was expensive, but he had his own shop for many years. Arthur E. attended Coldwater, MI High School and then went to a school in Chicago, which specialized in plumbing and heating. In time he became a master plumber. He carried on his profession in Battle Creek. While there, he married Helen Newman on 26 April 1905. His occupation was listed as steamfitter and foreman of the plumbing department of the Advance Thresher Company. Arthur had been born in 1875, Sturgis, MI. Helen's year of birth was 1880. Her occupation was stenographer at the time of marriage.

Together they had five children, all but the last born in Battle Creek. Donald was born in Milan, MI. They were:

• Herbert Newman, 1909- 1976, married to Katherine Malone.
• Alice Mae, married to Howard Griswold.
• Gretta Maria, married to Russell Anderson
• Myrtle Helen, married to Harvey J. Finison
• Donald Arthur, 1921- 1990 married to Martha Jane Browne

In Milan Michigan, Arthur Edward was in the hardware business with his brother-in-law, M.J Freeman for a short time and then moved to Ypsilanti where he ran his own plumbing and heating shop until his untimely death in 1933. “Rumor has it that he was murdered, but the prosecuting attorney was up for re-election and did not want a murder on his hands, so he called it a suicide. They found the body stuffed in the furnace in his plumbing shop and no one explained how he got in there himself” (Letter from Mildred Adams to the Editor 3/4/1979).

From money inherited on his wife's side and from grandparents he bought land and built a cottage on Cordley Lake, Michigan. Arthur’s hobbies were golf and fishing.

Recollections of his son Donald

Written by Donald Arthur Van Aken for his personal genealogical records, 23 January 1986.

  Arthur was trained and educated as a Master Plumber and Steamfitter. During and prior to World War I, he was employed as a Foreman at the Advance Rumley Company in Battle Creek, Michigan. Sometime following the war, he moved to Milan, Washtenaw, Michigan where he entered into a Hardware and Plumbing and Heating business with a brother-in-law, Melville Freeman. This business was not successful and he moved to Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan in 1922 where he started his own Plumbing and Heating business at two successive locations on east Cross Street. His death was ruled a suicide by the local police and city coroner. Needless to say, it came as a sudden shock to his survivors and relatives. The "suicide" label was questioned at length by his brother, Homer, of Battle Creek, an attorney, but the local Ypsilanti authorities did not feel the circumstances (with pending local political election on the agenda) justified their attention. That morning, 30 January, he and his youngest son, Donald, had driven to his establishment. Donald had gotten out of the pick-up truck and proceeded to walk back west across the Huron River bridge and up the hill to the school where he was a fifth-grader. Little did he realize what a sorrowful situation would await him when he arrived home for lunch that noon!

Found and submitted by Mary Anne Van Aken Sandwell, August 16, 2004.