After a 42-year career at the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, Undersheriff Kent Lagerquist retired Jan. 16, 2016. He began his career in 1974 as a corrections officer and worked in several divisions until he was appointed undersheriff in 2000. He spent one of his final working days in a ride-along in his son’s patrol car.

On New Year’s Eve, Jan. 1, 1941, a crowd of nearly 300 supporters thronged the streets and walkways of downtown Mount Clemens to help celebrate the induction of Jacob Frank Theut into the office of sheriff. Amidst the sounds of the crowd, noise makers and city police sirens, Theut led his parade from the County Building to the old jail on Front Street, followed by newly appointed Undersheriff Harley Ensign, process server Edward S. Calahill, Matron Gladys Burr and Edward W. Kunath, instructor of deputies.

As a very young boy growing up in the 1950s, I was close to my grandparents. They lived in the flat above my parents and my older brother and I in our two-story house on Balfour Street in Detroit. When my mother got tired of minding me, she would send me upstairs to visit with my grandmother and grandfather. Fired up by my grandparents’ stories, I dreamt of growing up to be a railroad engineer. My grandparents told tales of my great-grandfather, who had been a conductor on the Wabash Railroad. They also told of traveling on the Interurban Rail, referring to it as the Rapid Railway System. As a child I imagined that it was a real railroad running through the heart of Detroit and out into Macomb County and beyond.

John Charles Charbeneau, born Dec. 31, 1856, was a lifelong resident of Mount Clemens. Known by many as “The Christmas Tree Man,” he sold Christmas trees on his property for over 40 years that he grew on his Black River, Alpena property.

Under a brilliant summer sun, girls in swimsuits and handsome lifeguards pose on a golden sandy beach. This could be a scene from a Hollywood movie, but it is in fact our very own metro Beach.” A Haven for eastsiders seeking to escape the hot pavement and unairconditioned houses of metro Detroit, Metro Beach has invited generations of summer visitors to swim, walk the shoreline and feel the cool breath of the lake on their skin as seagulls lazily circle overhead.

Born in Mount Clemens in 1919, George Caram Steeh was the son of Caram and Dora (Lappin) Steeh. George’s immigrant parents played a major role in the shaping of his remarkable career. Their values regarding hard work and the importance of a good education greatly contributed to his success.