County Seat Newspaper
of Clare County

Dennis Edward Zitterkoph

May 29, 1947-December 17, 2020

Posted

Dennis Edward Zitterkoph, age 73, passed away Thursday afternoon, December 17, 2020, at Medilodge in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Dennis was born in Flint, Michigan on May 29, 1947 to Edward and Dorothy (Harris) Zitterkoph. He attended Flushing Community Schools. Dennis married his wife, Margaret (Peggy) Gardner on January 20, 1968. Together, they raised four children. They lived in many areas of Michigan (Flint, Holly, Durand, Owosso, Cheboygan, Atlanta, Republic, Mt. Pleasant, Farwell and Clare) and also Berea, Ohio. Through the early years Dennis worked at General Motors, Super City and Holly Steel. Most knew Dennis though, while he owned his own business in Cheboygan and Sault Ste. Marie, which included running a route for Auto Trim Design, putting graphics and striping on cars, installing sunroofs, running boards and many other aftermarket products in the Northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas. In the late 90’s, he began working a route for W & S Distributing, selling Wynn’s car care products in the Upper Peninsula and then in mid-Michigan before retiring in 2004. Dennis was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1974. His faith was a big part of his life. He would volunteer many of his weekends throughout the year, accompanied by his wife and younger children, traveling all over Michigan to assist in the building of new Kingdom Halls for Jehovah’s Witnesses. He also enjoyed sharing Bible truths, that he had learned, with other people in the community. Dennis enjoyed fishing, hunting, and camping with family and friends. He easily made friends wherever he went, because of his outgoing and lovable personality. He will be remembered by many for his kind, loving, and giving nature, along with his love of people and incredible story telling abilities. He was an amazing husband, father, Grandpa, Big Papa, brother, uncle and friend. He will be greatly missed. Dennis is survived by his wife of almost 53 years, Margaret (Peggy), his children, Tina Tennant of Barryton, Dawn (Mike) Raines of Farwell, Misty (Mark) Wilton of Sault Ste. Marie, and Travis Zitterkoph of Mt. Pleasant, 12 grandchildren; LeighAnn (Michael) Sherburne, Tyler Tennant, Kathleen Tennant, Jenae, Michael, and Brock Raines, Katelyn, Kylee, and Travis Zitterkoph, Madelyn Wilton, Chad (Molly) Wilton, and Laura (David) True, 10 great-grandchildren; Chloe, Kierah and Areia Sherburne, Austen Tennant, Alexia Mcallaster, A’Kylah Denslow, Braxton Anderson, Larissa and Levi Wilton, and 3 sisters; Kathy (Gary) Kantrud, Cindy (Ray) Shaheen, and Jane (Perry) Pindur, also many nieces and nephews. Dennis is preceded in death by his parents Edward and Dorothy Zitterkoph.