4BA.  Stella Mae Beedle was born in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, on Sunday, January 10, 1926, and died in Plainwell, Michigan, on April 17, 1999. She was called Sue by most family and friends. She was buried in Hillside Cemetery. John Miller Vermeulen was born in Three Rivers, Michigan, on Thursday, October 23, 1924. They were married in Detroit, Michigan, on Thursday, June 27, 1946. She took the name Stella Mae Vermeulen. She is the daughter of Basil Henry and Ina Rae (Gilbert) Beedle. He is the son of Chrisian and Anne Estelle (Miller) Vermeulen. They had four children:

i. John Christian Vermeulen [#4BAA]: He was born in Michigan on July 8, 1945, and died in _____ on December 10, 1990.
ii. James Timothy Vermeulen [#4BAB]: He was born in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan, on January 27, 1949.
iii. Judith Diane Vermeulen was born in Allegan County, Michigan, on April 11, 1952, and died in Allegan County on May 8, 1953. She was born with a brain tumor which soon killed her.
iv. Susan Martha Vermeulen [#4BAD]: She was born in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, U.S.A., on January 13, 1954.

Sue and John Vermeulen
Most of Sue's childhood was spent in Kalamazoo. After her mother died, she lived with her Gilbert grandparents and occasionally with her Uncle Truman and Aunt Dorothy Gilbert. She graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1943. She was married briefly and divorced after highschool. She first met John Vermeulen as a teen and when he returned from military service in the Army/Air Force in WWII, they were reacquainted and married.

Sue attended Western Michigan College (later University). She received a degree in corporate law and was a licensed para-legal in the State of Michigan. She was a successful realtor for many years and served on the Kalamazoo Board of Realtors and on their legal committee.

When her family was young, Sue was involved with Scouts and Brownies. She loved oil painting and charcoal drawing, writing poetry, reading and crocheting. The family had a summer home with 500 feet of Lake Michigan waterfront at Pointe Aux Chenes, west of St. Ignace, Michigan, in sight of the Macinac Bridge. They designed and did almost all of the construction of the house themselves. Parts of it were planned to accommodate Sue's increasing need for rest.

John worked for Upjohn Pharmacuticals _____.

After her mother died, her father married Ida _____ from whom she had a halfsister, Brenda (Mrs. Ed Wolff). Sue died at home after a four or five years of progressive heart failure. She never complained of her illness.

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