Delores Ann Faust age 81, of Fairview, Michigan, went to be with her Lord and Savior on February 9, 2023, after passing at her home in Fairview, surrounded closely by her loving family.
Delores was a coal miner’s daughter born to Willie and Annie Dunn on February 2, 1942, in Capels, West Virginia. At the age of 12, her family, seeking better opportunities, resettled in Michigan where she spent the remainder of her life.
Delores met her future husband Don at a Detroit area automotive supply company where they were both employed, Don as an accountant and Delores as an assistant in the same department. While the job did not work out for the strong willed and determined Delores, an ember glowed. They began dating shortly after she left the company, and were married on October 6, 1962.
Delores and Don moved their young family to Fairview in 1969 where they began working and built a home. Among other endeavors, they owned and operated Don’s Marathon / Fairview Party Store in Fairview from 1971 until 2005.
Delores enjoyed family and friends and would look for any excuse to cook and entertain. She loved a crowded and lively home, and was more than willing to contribute to the decibel level. She loved to tell jokes, deliver timely one-liners, and to engage in the banter that always surrounded her, her dinner table, her table games, and her snack plates.
But, Delores also enjoyed the creative time that solitude brought her. She loved to paint, to stitch, to crochet, to sculpt, to craft, and to scrapbook, and received great pleasure in teaching these skills to her grandchildren and other students in the community.
She also loved to sing and to write music. At the time of her death she was still trying to put the finishing touches on one last Gospel song. She was certain it would be her best yet.
Delores was a lover of Christ and shared her faith with those around her freely. She spent several years engaged in her own “Clown Ministry” where she would deliver birthday wishes and other messages of encouragement to residents of the nursing home, all while dressed as a circus performer.
Delores served those around her with a smile. She was delighted by the successes of those she knew, and tried her best to share the burdens of those around her who she knew were suffering. She loved life and pursued it to its fullest, and lived a life of generous love that she shared without reservation.
She is survived by her husband Don of Fairview; brother Delbert (Trudy) Dunn of Ypsilanti; children Alesia Willobee of Fairview, Jeff (Denise) Faust of Oxford, MI, and Jennifer (Travis) Roberts of St. Charles, MI; grandchildren, Lindsay Johns, Whitney Fry, Brent (Min), Garrett, Kasson and Drake Willobee, Alex, Spencer and Sydney Roberts, adopted grandson Nicolas Alvarez; and great grandchildren, David Johns and Quinton Willobee.
She was preceded in death by her parents Willie and Annie Dunn, and sister Deborah Gail Deer.
Don and the family would like to thank Hospice Compassus for the compassion and care they provided to them and Delores.
Visitation 5:00 – 8:00 PM on Monday, February 13, 2023 at the Lashley Funeral Home, Mio.
Visitation 10:00 AM until the time of Funeral Service at 11:00 AM Tuesday, on February 14, 2023 at the Fairview Mennonite Church, with Pastors David Price and Lowell Eastman officiating.
Private interment to follow at the Fairview Cemetery, Fairview, MI.
Arrangements by Lashley Funeral Home, Mio, MI.
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