MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE ONCE ALBION COLLEGE PROFESSOR

We pause here to reflect on the passing recently of two prominent Albion educators: Ordell W. McElhaney on February 7 in Largo, FL, and Jerry Sacharski on February 27 in Albion. Both were 93 years old. They were prominent figures for those who grew up in Albion during the 1950s and 1960s. Ordell was the principal at Albion Junior High School for many years. Jerry, of course taught school and served as a coach. He is best known as the inventor of Pee Wee baseball. Both men will be remembered and missed by our readers, and we mourn their passing.

The election last fall of Marilyn Jean Kelly as Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court was certainly a big change there in Lansing. Closer to home, our readers might like to know that there is an Albion connection: Justice Kelly once lived here in Albion. She served as a professor of modern languages at Albion College for a couple of years during the mid-1960s! She taught French and literature. Her picture appears on page 68 of the 1965 Albionian yearbook along with other faculty. The 1965 City Directory lists her living in an apartment at 204½ N. Huron St. Her Albion stint is included in her biography on the state court website.

From our Historical Notebook this week courtesy of Joseph Romanchuk we present a 1965 “dinner at Schuler’s” photo of Albion city officials with their spouses or dates, in which Marilyn Kelly was present. Front, seated: Marian Taylor, Marilyn Schermer, Clethine Johnson, Lydia Sovjak, Ruth Van Dellen, Doris Bradley. Back rows: Wilford Taylor, Wallace Schermer, Lyle Johnson, J. Leslie and Ruth Engstrom, Paul E. Nelson and wife, Arthur and Josephine Dailey, James and Marie McIntosh, Joseph Romanchuk and Marilyn Jean Kelly, Hugo Rieger and Karleen Comstock, William and Edna Rieger, Donald McMillan, Ray Sovjak, Theodore Van Dellen, and Howard Bradley. How many of our readers remember Marilyn Jean Kelly when she lived here in Albion?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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