BURL JOSEPH GHASTIN
(March 23, 1937 - January 25, 2014)
Burl Joseph Ghastin passed away on January 25, 2014 at Bronson Hospital, leaving the many lives he touched with fond memories of kindness, devotion, generosity and humor. Burl was born on March 23, 1937 in Traverse City, MI, the fifth of six children of Jim and Bridget Ghastin. He met the love of his life, Anita Miller, in 1950, when they were in the sixth grade. In 1956, Burl and Anita graduated from Traverse City St. Francis High School. Burl and Anita married in 1957.
Burl attended Northwestern College, Traverse City and graduated from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1992. He and his daughter Sherry graduated together that year.
His career with the Michigan State Police began in 1964 and ended in 1989. His career in Paw Paw was with the 5th District Headquarters in the Safety and Traffic Division. During his career he experienced a great many terrible events and wonderful occasions. He was in Detroit during the 1967 riots. Burl was the spokesperson for the MSP and was very instrumental in the implementation of the preliminary breath testers (PBT). He traveled throughout District 5 of southwest Michigan often to help calibrate and assure accuracy. He was very proud when the seatbelt law was passed. He loved his job and often commented that he couldn't believe he got paid for working with the Michigan State Police.
After retiring from the Michigan State Police, Burl worked at the Allegan County Road Commission for another ten years. This was a very rewarding time for him and was proud to share that he replaced every road sign in Allegan County, as well as replacing safety signs. Allegan County is actually a county and a half. He worked there from 1989-1999 and then he officially retired.
Education was very important to Burl. He was on the Paw Paw School Board and proudly was able to give all four of his children their diplomas from Paw Paw. He was a 20 plus year member of the Van Buren Intermediate School Board. He was instrumental in beginning a County School Board Association. He also was a member of the Michigan State School Board Association for several years. He served one term as President of the Michigan School Board Association. .
Burl "dotted the i" in "avid" when it came to being a sports fan - especially if either the Detroit Tigers or Notre Dame was involved. Burl took up running in 1995, and in June 2005 - at age 68 - completed the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend, crossing the finish line beneath the outstretched arms of "Touchdown Jesus" in Notre Dame Stadium.
Burl was active as a Lector and Eucharistic minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Paw Paw for over 40 years.
Burl is predeceased by his parents and sister Theresa (Richards). Burl is survived by his wife, Anita; their four children, Jerry, Jon (Mary VanderWeele), Donna Neyome , and Sherry (Vince) Vacha; 7 grandchildren, Ben Beckwith, Taylor and Emily Ghastin, Ruby and Harvey Ghastin, Elizabeth Neyome and Madissen Vacha, his sister Mary Worm and brothers Martin (Bernie), Jack (Carolyn) and Jim (Cynthia).
Visitation will be held at 2 to 4 pm at Adams Funeral Home in Paw Paw with a Rosary at 3:30 pm on Sunday, February 2, 2014. His funeral mass will be held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Paw Paw at 11:00 am on Monday, February 3, 2014, followed by a luncheon.
Donations may be made to the Paw Paw Elementary School library fund.