By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Dowagiac Daily News
EDWARDSBURG – The Bluniers brought a taste of the Southwest with them when they moved to Edwardsburg and three suede hats hang in the entranceway to prove it.
The path to Edwardsburg, with its excellent school district reputation, came from research before Dale Blunier and Leigh Goyings even had a child.
Dale grew up in this area, attending school in Niles, Dowagiac and graduating from Eau Claire High School.
He met his future wife, Leigh at Michigan State, when she typed a paper for him.
Her payment, she decided, would be lunch.
When they moved to San Francisco, Calif., for him to attend Hastings College of Law, she postponed her education.
There, they spent their first 11 years of marriage.
She kept her maiden name, popular there at the time.
"We had fun, but were ready to settle down," Leigh remembers.
They knew they didn't want to raise a child there.
Leigh's parents still live on a farm north of Kalamazoo.
They were thrilled when the couple announced they were moving back and expecting.
After learning about the Edwardsburg schools, they decided that is where they would live.
A move to a house off Redfield Road, from Pleasant Lake, allowed for a mother-in-law room and bath for Dale's mother.
"My parent's lived in Las Vegas, Nevada," said Dale, hence the Southwestern influence.
They divorced after 25 years and remarried last year and are "as happy as can be," Dale added.
Now just mom's shelter cat which stayed comes in and out the kitty door in the extra bedroom.
At the same time, they added an indoor pool, just perfect to relax in or do laps.
Their son Thomas, 16, is now almost through the school system, as he is a junior at Edwardsburg High School.
His dogs, Arwen and Scooby-Doo, an English Springer spaniel and Chesapeake retriever, are also his 4-H project, and he had awards in agility and obedience at the Cass County Fair.
Tom is in Silver Spurs 4-H club.
This will be his third year on the tennis varsity team.
First having a practice in Niles, Dale's law office has been in Edwardsburg for 10 years.
He handles estates, family law, wills and probate.
Two-thirds of his practice, though, is as a public defender by contract.
Leigh did go back to school, first for paralegal training in California, then at Southwestern Michigan College and Western for teaching. She will be receiving her masters in teaching from Indiana University South Bend in the spring in elementary education.
She joined the Edwardsburg award winning Blue Ribbon School herself, after teaching three years in Cassopolis, she is in her third year at Eagle Lake Elementary teaching second grade.
They are active at Hope United Methodist Church, where Dale is a reader and assists with the teens' Sunday School. Leigh is helping with the new community youth group, which had 60 show for the first gathering to play laser tag and enjoy snacks. Dale is also a member of the Lions and Civitans.
Their 27th anniversary, in July 2005, was one they will always remember. Just as hurricane Emily was due to hit the Cancun vacation spot, Dale suffered a stroke.
Fainting and blurred speech sent him to the hospital in a cab. He spent five days in the hospital watching Emily and listening to Leigh read the latest Harry Potter book.
"It is the first time I purchased travel insurance," Dale said. That move of paying $300, save them $12,000 in extra bills, and included a nurse to accompany him back tot he states.
"It only pays for natural disasters and major medical problems," he said, "I had both."
He had to spend a month in therapy and adds, Memorial in South Bend, Ind. did a great job.
"I knew he was back when they were wheeling him and someone from Chicago asked him what happened," said Leigh. "I said cliff diving and he believed me," Dale added.
Dale feels very lucky to have survived. "I am 51 and I know a lot of people my age who are dead," he said.
Leigh too had a scare, when one of her retinas partially detached. It was Thomas, who had completed driver's education, who came to the rescue driving his parents.
"It was one of the scariest times I have ever been through," she said. "I was down for the count."
During these difficult days, "support was great – family, church, friends … they came and helped," Leigh said.
Just another reason they are glad to be living in Edwardsburg.