Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Divine, Chester M. 1948
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Marilyn Ransom mlnransom@chartermi.net May 19, 2012, 7:28 pm

The Portland Review, Thursday, September 23, 1948

Chester M. Divine, 63, died of a heart attack at his apartment in the home Mr. 
and Mrs. Elon (Bill) Sandborn, late Sunday afternoon.  Members of the fire 
department inhalator squad were called, but their efforts failed to revive 
him.  Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 at the Bandfield 
chapel, and burial was on the family lot in Portland cemetery.  

The Rev. Lowell J. McCarty, of the Congregational church, officiated at the 
service, and same was in charge of the local Masonic lodge.  Portland business 
places were closed during the funeral services.

Mr. Divine came here as a lad of 12 from Lakeview, when his father and mother, 
Mr. and Mrs. Monroe Divine, came to take ownership of what was then the Welch 
House, and which was renamed Hotel Divine.  Chester grew up and graduated from 
school here.  Later he clerked in the hotel, but left town for a period of a 
few years after his parents’ death.  Meantime the hotel passed thru several 
hands and Chester came back and bought it.  He kept up a steady program of 
modernization, which over a period of years transformed the old country town 
hostelry into one of the most modern hotels in a wide area, far ahead of what 
many larger towns have to offer the traveler.

“Chet” played base ball in his younger years.  That was back in the days of 
Pedro Pratt, Dick “Critt” Crittenden, the Bauer boys, Billy Young, and 
others.  

As Hotel Divine’s business grew, so did the responsibilities of the owner.  
Mr. Divine worked longer hours than most men on the street, and kept it up for 
years.  He retired about four years ago, selling the hotel business.  Since 
that time he had traveled extensively, and was associated with an investment 
service.

Mr. Divine served on the village commission for nearly 20 years, and had been 
its president many years.  He retired at close of his last term and was not a 
candidate for reelection.  He was also chairman of Ionia county road 
commission, and a director of Maynard-Allen State bank, and a member of 
Masonic lodge.

His wife was the former Lulu Probart, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. 
Probart.  She assisted her husband in operation of the hotel business, until 
her death eight years ago.  Ernest Divine, a brother of Chester, lived in 
Chicago many years and his death occurred there.  Another brother was drowned 
at Lakeview, before the family moved to Portland.

Mr. Divine was born at Belding May 5, 1885.  Near surviving relatives are 
Ernest C. Jr., son of the late Ernest Divine, now in the Galapagos Island, 
working for the government; Frederick Vogt and Mrs. Justin Balderson, 
Portland; Mrs. Frederick Meade, Vermontville; Don Graham, Grand Rapids, all 
nephews and nieces.

Besides the nieces and nephews mentioned, there are several cousins, among 
them Vern C. Divine, Chicago; Mrs. Wm. Currie, Montclair, N.J.; Herbert 
Angell, LeRoy Angell, Schoolcraft; Mrs. Malvina Angell, Detroit; Glenn and 
Harry Divine, No. Dakota.  Among the relatives coming from a distance to 
attend the funeral were Mr. and Mrs. Vern C. Divine, Mrs. E. C. Divine, 
Chicago; Herbert and LeRoy Angell, Schoolcraft.


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