Nancy Lewis Poorman, of Cassopolis
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Sept. 2, 1928 — Aug. 26, 2016
Nancy Lewis “Mimi” Poorman, 87, passed away peacefully Aug. 26, 2016, in her home in Mesa, Arizona. She was born Nancy Colleen Orr in Elkhart, Indiana to Russell and Myrtle (Stamp) Orr, the youngest of three daughters.
Nancy grew up on a farm in Vandalia, Michigan. After graduating from Vandalia High School she went to business college in South Bend, Indiana. All three sisters graduated from college, which was quite an accomplishment for a small town during this time period.
In April of 1948 she married Ladd James Lewis, a well driller for a family owned business in Cassopolis, Michigan. They had two daughters and lived on Donnell Lake. Ladd passed away from open heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic in 1975. Nancy then worked at the Cass Clinic as a receptionist, eventually moving to Mesa, Arizona where she worked at Central Christian Church. It was there that she met Bud Poorman and they married in January 1982. Bud passed away from cancer in September of 1992. Nancy stayed in Arizona visiting her daughters in Michigan during the hot summers.
Nancy had a beautiful soprano voice and loved to sing. She performed in choirs for over sixty years as well as sang and played piano at nursing homes. She and two friend, Joyce Settle and Donna Olson, were known as the Jubilee Trio and made a record in the 1960s called ‘Meeting in the Air.’ Nancy also loved to bake and read. She was a wonderful example of a Christian wife and mother.
Nancy will be greatly missed by her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, and her two sisters, Rosemary Smith Peters and Jeanne Willemin. She leaves to continue her legacy her two daughters, Gaye Iseminger and Joye Daron, four grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren.
Family and friends will gather from 10 a.m. until time of a celebration of her life in a service at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, in Michiana Church of Christ, 500 East Prairie Ronde St., Dowagiac, Michigan. Nancy remains will be laid to rest in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Cassopolis, Michigan.
The family prefers contributions be made in Nancy’s memory to Banner Hospice House, 7231 East Broadway Road, Meza, Arizona 85208, or, Michiana Church of Christ, Building Fund, 500 East Prairie Ronde Street, Dowagiac, Michigan 49047.
Please share a memory or a message online via Wagner Family Funerals at: wagnercares.com.