12/10/2021
Vaughn Lee Massingill was born in Monroe, Michigan on June 12, 1939. He was the oldest of two boys born from the union of Walter Lee and Hallie (Edmondson) Massingill. While in the first grade, his family moved to Dundee where Vaughn attended the Bridge School until its consolidation with Dundee Community Schools. He was a 1957 graduate of Dundee High School.
Vaughn married the love of his life the former Shirley Delta Marie Busz on September 8, 1956 in Angola, Indiana. The couple would be blessed with the birth of three children. Vaughn began working for Earl Vandercook at Vandercook Plumbing and Heating in 1956. Upon Earl’s retirement, Vaughn along with Wyman Hanson purchased the business in 1961, renaming it Dundee Plumbing and Heating. He and Shirley also have owned and operated the Extra Space Storage facility with their son.
Vaughn was very active in the Dundee community. He joined the Dundee Township Volunteer Fire Department in 1959. Throughout his thirty-year career, he obtained the rank of Assistant Chief before retiring in 1989. At the age of 21, he was elected to the Village Council and served a total of forty-two years with only a two-year hiatus. During his tenure, Vaughn served as President Pro Temp of the Village of Dundee Council. He was well respected in the community once even being elected unknowingly by a write-in campaign he didn’t start!
Vaughn was actively engaged in his children’s lives coaching their Little League teams and attending countless high school athletic games, dance recitals, and life events. He was a dedicated community volunteer serving in various capacities with the Dundee Recreation Commission, Dundee Jaycees, Dundee Athletic Boosters, Dundee Old Mill Museum Restoration Committee, Downtown Development Authority, Dundee Area Business Association, and River Raisin Watershed Council. He also served as the Village Santa Clause for many years following in the footsteps of Shirley’s grandfather who was the town’s first Santa.
The Village of Dundee presented Vaughn with the Citizen of The Year Award in 1992. He received the Michigan Minuteman Award in 1997. In 2008, following his retirement from the plumbing shop, he became the Village of Dundee Plumbing and Mechanical Inspector.
Vaughn was well known as a person of integrity. He was very generous and sometimes performed repair work for free or discounted to help those in need. He was always straightforward, not afraid to speak his mind, and his follow through was impeccable. An expert conversationalist, he never met a stranger, striking up banter wherever he went. Vaughn had a dry sense of humor, never taking himself too seriously, and making himself the center of a joke when necessary.
Vaughn was many things to many people, but what he valued most was his relationship with his family.
He was a devoted husband and father and was quite proud of his grandchildren. “Gramps” cherished his summer home at Evans Lake in the Irish Hills that he purchased in the early 1970s across from his in-laws’ cottage where family gathered since the 1950s. “The Cottage” truly was a second home where the family lived all summer with Vaughn driving back and forth for work each day, and where grandchildren stayed giving him his needed “baby fix.”
Throughout his life, Vaughn enjoyed golfing, bowling and hunting. His focus after retirement brought out his artistic side with being a woodworker. Those skills, along with his mechanical skills, were put to good use donating hours of service building cabinets and making repairs at the Dundee Old Mill Museum and the Dundee United Methodist Church.
Vaughn Lee Massingill, age 82, of Dundee passed away on Friday; December 3, 2021 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. His passing was preceded by both of his parents and a nephew, Troy Massingill.
To cherish his memory he leaves his beloved wife of sixty-five years: Shirley of Dundee; three children: Terry (Mary) Massingill of Dundee, Mark Massingill of Ann Arbor, and Connie (Roman) Bohatch of Grand Rapids, Michigan; one brother: Ronald (Patricia) Massingill of Dundee; six grandchildren: Adam (Kristen) Massingill of Temperance, Aric (Melanie) Massingill of Dundee, Danielle (Scott) Parker-DeGood of Hudsonville, Roman Bohatch II of Grand Rapids, Michael Bohatch of Grand Rapids, Ivana Bohatch of Grand Rapids; ten great grandchildren: Gabe, Alana, Aiden, Kallahan, Oliver, Daisy, Corinne, Evan, Riley, and Brayden; former exchange student and son: Petter (Nina) Andersen and children Pernille and Filippa of Oslo, Norway.
Vaughn will lie in state from 10:00am until a Celebration of His Life at 11:00am on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at Dundee United Methodist Church; 645 Franklin Street, Dundee, Michigan 48131. A Ceremonial Fire Department walk-through will take place at 10:50am. Pastor Brad Luck will officiate, and procession will follow to Oak Grove Cemetery for burial. Cremation has taken place through Covenant Cremation of Erie, Michigan. Merkle Funeral Service, Dundee; 297 Tecumseh Street., Dundee, Michigan 48131 (734) 529-3156 has been entrusted with his care.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Dundee Fire Department Association, Dundee Old Mill Museum, or Dundee United Methodist Church. Online guests may leave words of inspiration and comfort or share a photo by visiting
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