Copyright © 1997 by Douglas Willett. 

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MR. FRED WILLETT
Fred WILLETT, 94, Businessman Dies
SAND LAKE - Fred Wesley (Pops) WILLETT, 94, Rt. 1 Pentecost Hwy., died
Sunday morning at Provincial House in Adrian.  He was born May 27, 1882
in Adrian, the son of Wesley and Josephine (LAING)WILLETT. He married
Ella KNOWLES of Adrian in 1902. She died in 1949.  Mr. WILLETT managed
the Grinnell Music Store in Adrian until 1911, and then went into the 
piano business and was part owner in the Willett & Calhoun Piano Store
in Adrian.  He was owner of a Chevrolet Motors dealership in Adrian and
later merged that with an Oldsmobile dealership.
He was a violinist and pianist in several Croswell Opera House performances
during this time.
In 1926 he moved to Detroit and entered the real estate business. He was
active in the home construction industry prior to the Depression era.
He was also a musician in the Detroit News studio orchestra.
During the 1940s he owned and operated a bowling alley in Detroit, and is
credited with inventing a bowling ball cleaning machine.
Mr. WILLETT returned to Adrian and again became active with the Adrian City
Band. He taught bowling in Adrian, Brooklyn, and Westland and was an avid
lifetime bowler with an average in the 180s.
 In 1965 he became a partner in Bauer Manor on US-12.
 During his lifetime he was a hobbyist in speedboat construction and an avid
baseball fan.  He was a member of the Detroit Federation of Musicians Unions, 
and the Bowling Proprietors Association of Greater Detroit.
Surviving area daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wesley (Mildred) WILLETT of Canton
Township near Westland, four grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 
three great-great-grandchildren.  Preceding him in death were his wife, 
son, and a brother.
Services will be Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Everiss Funeral Home, with Rev.
Dr. Robert Boley officiating. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery.
 
-Adrian Daily Times, Monday, April 18, 1977, Page 13

dz