She was one of ours.
Teddy Paige, 81, longtime production staffer at the Enterprise, passed away Jan. 1. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still hurts.
Teddy grew up in Centerville Township, the eldest of three siblings in Schlueter family. After time at Northwestern Michigan College, where she met her husband Larry and moved to Wisconsin.
In their retirement years, the Paiges spent time at Lake Havasu and at the family farm on French Road.
“At some point, it just got to be too much for them and they made a home here,” Debra Lawrence, her sister, said. “They still kept in touch with some of the friends they met at Lake Havasu.”
After her husband died, Teddy kept very busy working at Plantmasters in Suttons Bay, but stopped when the physical labor got to be too much for her.
But she still enjoyed gardening at home. Her gardens, near the intersection of French and Gauthier roads, are filled with daffodils and lilies, among others.
Teddy responded to an advertisement for help in production at the Enterprise where she carved out a niche in the print operation, inserting papers, as well a collecting recycled materials.
Every Wednesday, around our news deadline, Teddy would enter the creative department and say, “How are my boys today?”
She was a mother to all. It was at the Enterprise, that Teddy became fast friends with fellow “stuffers” Diane Foerster and Sandy Reinhardt.
“I learned something different every time I talked to her,” Foerster said, adding that her husband, Tom, reminded her of her late husband. “They were always teasing one another.”
When the Enterprise purchased a mechanical inserter, the staff was reduced to just Teddy. But Foerster and Reinhardt maintained contact with their friend, frequently walking with her.
There were also visits to Teddy’s garden.
“She loved that garden and worked all the time at it,” Foerster said. “She’s the only person I know who could keep orchids blooming.”
Reinhart, a master gardener, shared Teddy’s green thumb. They also enjoyed going to check out what’s new at Leelanau Christian Neighbors Samaritan’s Closet next door to the Enterprise.
Teddy was diagnosed about seven years ago with a type of blood cancer. But that didn’t keep her from going to work.
“She scheduled her treatments, so she’d be all juiced up for her day at the Enterprise,” her sister said.
Teddy is survived by a son, Michael, of Appleton, Wisconsin; her sister, Debra Lawrence; brother, John Henry Schlueter and many nieces and nephews.
