Thomas C. Boetefuer

Linwood, Michigan

Tom Boetefuer, age 76, passed away Thursday, November 7, 2024, at Select Special Care Hospital in Saginaw. He was born on October 18, 1948, in Bay City, Michigan, to the late Adolph Boetefuer and Ella [Kuch] Boetefuer. Tom attended Pinconning schools, graduating in 1966. On April 17, 1971, he married Christine Rosenbrock at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pinconning.

Family members left to cherish Tom’s memory include his wife of 53 years, Christine, and his three sons and their families: Timothy [Rochelle] Boetefuer and their children Timothy and Trenton; Brian [Danielle] Boetefuer and their children Carter, Chloe and Ella; Scott Boetefuer [Taylor Punches] and her children Fletcher and Fisher. Also surviving are brothers-in-law Bill [Bunny] Rosenbrock, Alvin [Eileen] Rosenbrock, Elmer Rosenbrock, and Pudge [Kelly] Rosenbrock; sisters-in-law Kathy Szwed, Jeanie [Jerry] Wittkopp, Mary [Tom] Idzior, and Julieann Rosenbrock; as well as many nieces and nephews, especially Kristen, Joel, and Mike Boetefuer.

Over the years, Tom served the community in many ways. He was a long-time member of the Pinconning School Board, holding many offices in his more than 20-year tenure on the school board. He was instrumental in the success of the bond issue to renovate school buildings, and he helped guide the district from a difficult financial situation to one of fiscal stability. In every situation he was guided by the principle of always having the best interests of students in mind.

In recent years Tom served as a member of the Bay-Arenac ISD School Board. He also served on the Bay Metro Transit Board of Directors for over 20 years. He was a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Pinconning & Standish, which was chartered on his birthday, October 18, 2007. Twice he served as President of the club.

Tom was the first active Fire Chief of the Garfield Township Volunteer Fire Department. He was responsible for organizing the department and purchasing the department’s first fire trucks and equipment. He served as Fire Chief until being elected Garfield Township Supervisor, a position which included serving as township assessor. He later worked as an assessor for other townships.

Tom served as a board member of the Pinconning & Linwood Chamber of Commerce and as a committee member of the Northern Bay County Fund, a part of the Bay Area Community Foundation. In 2021, the Chamber of Commerce awarded Tom its Leadership Award in recognition of his work in the community over many years. During the COVID pandemic, he volunteered to deliver boxes of commodity food items to senior citizen shut-ins in northern Bay County every month for two years, 2020 to 2022, on behalf of the Bay County Department on Aging.

Tom was raised on the family farm in Pinconning where he learned the value of hard work. He lost his father at an early age but shared with other young men in the area the things he had learned. After farming, he worked installing field tile, then as an electrician with his father-in-law and brother-in-law, then at Bay City Milling. Later, he completed training to be a fireman before finishing his career as a property assessor. In his youth he was active with St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pinconning. As an adult, he and wife Christine were active with Zion Lutheran Church in Beaver, where he once served on the church council.

Tom was known for his fabulous garden, his canning, and for raising the tastiest chickens in the county. In the fall, he was always busy processing deer for family and friends and creating mouthwatering sausage and bacon and potent horseradish. His other interests included playing softball, coaching baseball, bowling, and umpiring games. He was known as “The Ump from Crump.” He also served as an arbitrator for the Amateur Baseball Association. One of his favorite activities was going into the woods to do woodcutting. When not working, he enjoyed playing cards [pinochle] with family and friends, especially his brothers-in-law, at deer camp. He enjoyed his mornings with the guys at the Beaver Fire Department. And he was an avid sports fan, especially watching games on TV.

During the holidays, Tom loved to use his mother’s recipes to make Christmas specialties like Stollen bread, real mincemeat pies and, with wife Christine, Springerle cookies. Those who worked with them on these projects learned not only the skills needed to create such delicacies, but also the pleasure you get from carrying on old family traditions that were once so important to people in this part of the world, a world that is a better place for Tom’s having been in it.

Tom was predeceased by his parents and all of his siblings: Carol Gromaski, Allan Boetefuer, Virginia Rawluszki, Norman Boetefuer, and Orlo Boetefuer; his parents-in-law Lorina and Herb Rosenbrock; and brothers-in-law Delbert Rosenbrock, Bill Szwed and Bob Kraska.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., at Zion Lutheran Church-Beaver, with Rev. Andrew Menz and Rev. Seth Hemme presiding. Friends may call at the Rivertown Funeral Chapel on Tuesday, November 12, from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., and on Wednesday, November 13, at Zion Lutheran Church from 10:00 a.m. until time of service. Those wishing an expression of sympathy are asked to consider Zion Lutheran Church [roof fund] or a charity of their choice.