Charles Alvin Shue (1907-1991) & Leah Helen Lawton (1909-1996)
A Legacy of Devotion, Work, and Faith
Charles Alvin Shue was born on September 6, 1907, in Ludington, Mason County, Michigan, to Amos Shue and Catherine Elnora Sanders. He grew up in Ludington, learning the value of hard work and dedication. Charles spent his early years working in various roles, including at the Star Watchcase Factory, where he specialized in gold watches. He was known for his practical skills, his commitment to providing for his family, and his jolly laugh.
Leah Helen Lawton was born on June 13, 1909, in Manton, Missaukee County, Michigan, to Stowell Ernest Lawton and Minnie Viola Garn. From her earliest memories, Leah’s life was shaped by her faith. She recalled being taken to camp meetings when she was only a month old, delighting in the gatherings just six miles from home. Her grandparents often camped on the grounds, and Leah would help her grandmother, while her grandfather served as a delegate.
She remembered the tent meetings in the woods near her home, led by ministers like G. W. Archer, and later Rev. O. A. Kester, who helped build the Free Methodist Church across from their property. Leah’s faith deepened as a child; she was saved in December 1917 at the age of eight, and her brother Floyd bought her a New Testament with his own money so she could have one of her own. Leah cherished attending revival services, never wanting to miss a meeting because she believed God might bless the service and she would not be there.
Leah’s childhood was also filled with farm life adventures. She recalled her first car ride at age eight on a rainy day with school friends, and even witnessed an airplane flying overhead while at school. One of her daily chores was bringing cows home from pasture. She told of an incident when, at about nine years old, she accidentally drove her father’s cows mixed with her neighbor Johnny Root’s, resulting in teasing rhymes from her father that left her embarrassed but also fondly remembering life on the farm.
Charles and Leah married on November 30, 1929, in Caldwell, Michigan. Together, they raised three children: Marilyn Grace Shue (b. 1930), Margaret Eleanor Shue (b. 1932), and Charles Alvin Shue Jr. (b. 1942). Their household was deeply influenced by faith, community, and the routines of hardworking family life. Charles shared that he “always worked hard to provide a home and security for the family” and often reflected on the joys and responsibilities of raising children and maintaining a household. Leah also nurtured her children’s spiritual growth, just as she had been guided in her youth.
In their later years, Charles and Leah divided time between Michigan and Florida. Charles remained active in his faith and community, working as a Certified Nursing Assistant at hospitals including Ludington Memorial, Paulina Stearns, and Tarpon Springs, while Leah continued her devotion to family and church. Charles passed away on March 24, 1991, at Bay Tree Nursing Home in Palm Harbor, Florida, after a battle with colon cancer, and was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Custer, Michigan. Leah passed away on July 20, 1996, at Westchester Gardens Rehabilitation Center in Tarpon Springs, Florida, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, and was laid to rest beside Charles in Riverside Cemetery.
Charles and Leah are remembered for their deep faith, dedication to family, and enduring love. Their legacy continues through their children and grandchildren, who honor the example of their parents’ hard work, compassion, and steadfast devotion to one another and to God.
Detailed Timeline
Charles Alvin Shue
Birth: 06 SEP 1907 Ludington, Mason County, Michigan
1910 Census: 20 APR 1910
Place: Pere Marquette Twp, Mason Co, Michigan
Note: Living with parents, Amos and Elnora.
1920 Census: 14 JAN 1920
Place: Ludington, Mason Co, Michigan, USA
Note: Living with parents, Amos and Catherine Shue.
1924 City Directory: Ludington
Note: Shue Chas A inspr r505 N Rowe
Marriage:30 NOV 1929 Caldwell, Michigan
Occupation: Worked on gold watches at the Star Watchcase Factory
Place: Ludington, Mason Co, Michigan, USA
1930 Census: 15 APR 1930
Place: Ludington, Mason Co, Michigan
Note: Charles and Leah are living with Charles’s mom.
Birth of Daughter: 09 DEC 1930
Name: Marilyn Grace Shue
Place: Ludington, Mason Co, Michigan
Birth of Daughter: 02 MAY 1932
Name: Margaret Eleanor Shue
Place: Ludington, Mason Co, Michigan
Religion: Was a member of the Holiday Free Methodist Church in Holiday, Florida and attended the Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Ludington when he visited the area.
1940 Census: 09 APR 1940
Place: Ludington, Ward 2, Pere Marquette Twp, Mason Co, Michigan
Note: Wife, Leah, and daughters Marilyn and Margaret are also in household.
1950 Census: 11 APR 1950
Place: Ludington, Mason Co, Michigan
Note: Wife, Leah, children Margaret and Charles and his brother, Chester, are also in household.
Died: 24 MAR 1991
Note: Died of Colon Cancer
Place: Bay Tree Nursing Home, Palm Harbor, Pinellas Co, Florida
Obituary: AFT 24 MAR 1991
Note: CHARLES A. SHUE SR., Ludington, Mason Co, MI
Burial: AFT 24 MAR 1991 Riverside Cemetery, Custer, Mason, Michigan, USA
Note: Have funeral book.
Will: Have.
Click here to see parents: Amos Shue and Catherine Elnora Sanders
Leah Helen Lawton
Birth: 13 JUN 1909 Manton, Caldwell Twp, Missaukee Co, Michigan
1910 Census: 25 APR 1910
Place: Caldwell Twp, Missaukee Co, Michigan
Note: Living with parents, Stowell and Minnie.
1920 Census: Caldwell Twp, Missaukee County, MI
Note: Living with parents, Stowell and Minnie.
Occupation: BEF 1996
Note: Was a CNA at Ludington Memorial Hospital, Paulina Stearns Hospital, and Tarpon Springs Hospital.
Death: 20 JUL 1996 Westchester Gardens Rehabilitation Center, Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA
Note: Had Alzheimer’s Disease
Burial: AFT 20 JUL 1996 Riverside Cemetery, Custer, Mason, Michigan, USA
Obituary: 22 JUL 1996
Will: 17 JUN 1987
Note: Have.
Click here to see parents: Stowell Ernest Lawton and Minnie Viola Garn
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Note: I was taken to camp meeting when I was one month old. The camp was only about six miles from home, and it was always a source of enjoyment to me to be able to attend. My Lawton grandparents used to tent on the grounds, and I would stay with them and help my grandmother. Grandpa was often the delegate. I remember the tent meetings they used to have out in the woods a half mile from my home, across from Uncle Clarence and Aunt Cora Larr’s home. My mother was a Christian, and my Aunt Cora had been saved. Brother G. W. Archer was the first minister who came to hold the tent meetings. He was pastor of the Manton Free Methodist Church at that time.
About a year later they started cutting timber to build a church just across the corner from where we lived. Rev. O. A. Kester was the first pastor. I was about seven years old at that time, about 1916. I was saved in December of 1917 at the age of eight, just before Christmas time. Floyd went to town and bought me a New Testament with the 20 cents he had. He was only eleven at the time and thought, since I was saved, I should have a Testament of my own. All through my younger years, my mother encouraged me as a Christian, and my cousin Lola Larr would always say, “Look up, Leah. Keep encouraged.” There were good revival services after that, and people were saved. I never missed a service unless I had to. My mother couldn’t take us all every night, so she would send us to bed and check to see if we were okay during the altar service. I didn’t want to miss any meetings because I told my aunt that God might bless the service and I wouldn’t be there.
I was eight years old when I had my first car ride. Clyde Kinsey had a car and it was a rainy day on our last day of
school. He would fill the car with school children until he had given everyone a car ride. A few years later an airplane
flew over, and the teacher let all the children out of school to watch it.
One of my routine chores was to bring the cows home from pasture. There were no cars in the road, so the cows would
wander down the road and eat the grasses along the roadside. One day when I was about nine years old, I went to hunt the cows and found them about two miles from home. Johnny Root, a boy a little older than I, was getting his cows which were mixed in with ours, so rather than try to separate them, we thought it would be easier to drive them home together until his cows would leave the rest and go to their own barnyard.
[Margaret, Leah’s daughter remembers the rest of the story] When Leah got home with the cows and her father learned what happened, he teased her with a little rhyme he made up: As the sole is to the foot, So is Leah to Johnny Root. Leah got so tired of this and so embarrassed about being teased that she could hardly stand to look at Johnny Root after that, although he was a nice farm boy.
