Maude Drumm

Maude Elaine Drumm, 99, of Charlotte, Michigan passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, surrounded by family. Maude was born April 9, 1923, in West Branch, Michigan, the daughter of Aloysius and Lila Mier (Wilcox). After graduating from West Branch High School and the onset of WWII, Maude moved to Detroit and worked in a factory facility producing various products to help to support the war efforts, our own “Maude the Riveter” as she called herself.
Following the war’s end, she moved back to West Branch working as a telephone operator. Her younger sister, Jean, introduced her to Leo Drumm of Bear Lake, a Michigan State Police trooper stationed at the West Branch Police Post. They met, fell in love and they married in 1948. They had two children in West Branch, then Leo was transferred and they moved to Romeo, Michigan. In 1966 Leo was transferred to Houghton Lake where they resided for 16 years. During that time Maude worked as full-time mother as well as part-time cashier at the Spartan Grocery store and at the Treasure Chest Gift Shop. In 1972 Leo retired from the Michigan State Police Houghton Lake Post.
After retiring they spent almost every winter in Florida in the Fort Meyers area. They moved several more times in Michigan including Manistee, Bellaire, and lastly in Onekama. Leo passed away in 2010 after 62 years of marriage. Maude then settled in Charlotte near her family. Maude was an excellent cook and baker and delighted in cooking for family and friends. After Leo’s retirement they owned and operated the Gas Light Restaurant in Higgins Lake for several summers, until they both realized it was more work than they anticipated. She loved dancing and could keep up with the best of them in her younger days. Maude enjoyed sewing, needlework, knitting, and excelled at weaving pine needles into baskets and other items, a skill she learned in Florida. She won several awards for her work and some were featured in Spiegel’s catalogs and they were also sold in her nephews antique store in Charlevoix, where her baskets always sold out faster than she could make them. In later years after Leo passed away, she spent the winters with her sister Jean Hejduk in Kingman, Arizona, and also visited her son in California on a regular basis. Maude led an active busy life and was always on the go, she was kindhearted, soft spoken, easy going, and was liked by all who met her. She will be greatly missed.
Maude is survived by her sons, David (Cindy) Drumm, of Charlotte and Dale (Monique) Drumm of Los Gatos, California; five grandchildren, Davis (Amber) Drumm, Dustin Drumm, Brianna (Jase) Zappel, Kenton Drumm, and Tristan Drumm; 4 great-grandchildren, Gavin, Blake, and Kaden Drumm and Wilder Zappel; sister, Mary Jean Hejduk; and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Leo Drumm; four brothers, Robert, Carl, Earl, and Beryle Mier; and sister, Ailene Hanson.
Friends are encouraged to support Maude’s family by attending services or sharing memories on her Tribute Page at www.prayfuneral.com. A Memorial Mass was held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Charlotte, MI with Rev. Fr. Dwight Ezop officiating. The service was webcast so you may watch it from any computer, smartphone, or mobile device that has internet access. Go to www.prayfuneral.com, click on Maude’s tribute, then click on Photos and Videos from your computer (or Media from your smart phone). If desired, the family suggests memorial contributions to St. Mary Catholic Church in Charlotte or Elara Caring Hospice. The family will have a “Celebration of Life” for Maude this summer in West Branch, the details will be announced later. The family is in the care of Pray Funeral Home, Charlotte.