Floyd Ertle

The kindest man anyone could ever meet, Floyd Ertle lived a life rich in faith, family, and friends. Floyd led with his heart in all things, embracing each day as a gift and every person as a friend. He had a special gift for connecting with people, looking at them with a smile in his eyes, and listening to them as though they were the most important person in the world. Polite and respectful, compassionate and caring, whether sharing a passing moment or a lifetime, Floyd touched, moved, and inspired all who spent time with him. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend, Floyd will long be remembered and missed by those he so dearly loved.

1943 marked a time when the war effort in Europe impacted everyday American life. While many served overseas, those at home supported the effort in every way possible. Ford and GM converted their plants to produce bombs and aircraft engines, and millions of women entered the workforce. Providing a sense of comfort amid uncertainty, the music of Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller filled the airwaves, Lassie Come Home entertained audiences, and Oklahoma! lit up Broadway. For Virgil and Katherine (Wray) Ertle, it was a particularly exciting time as they welcomed their son, Floyd William, into their family on December 10 in Detroit, Michigan.

The middle of three boys, Floyd grew up in the company of his brother, Wray, who was 13 years older, and his brother Dave, who was 13 months younger. Given how close in age he and Dave were, they became and remained the best of friends throughout their lives. During Floyd's earliest years, the family lived in St. Clair Shores. In time, the family moved to Paw Paw, where Floyd’s maternal grandparents lived and owned a recreational pool hall. His maternal great grandparents owned a farm nearby in Bloomingdale. While in Paw Paw, Floyd attended the local public elementary school.

After his parents divorced in 1952, Floyd's father moved to Ohio and married Delores, who loved him as if he were her own son. Floyd continued to live in Paw Paw with relatives until his mother moved the family to Florida, where she had family who owned an orange grove in Hollywood. They lived on the orange grove and spent a lot of time working, driving tractors, riding horses, and making friends with the employees there.

Floyd attended many different schools, moving and visiting back and forth between his parents' homes and military schools. While a student at Riverside Military Academy in Florida, a fire leveled the academy. As a result, Floyd transferred to the Academy in Georgia, where he graduated. Though the plan was for him to be prepared to enroll in West Point, he chose to enlist in the Coast Guard instead. It was here where he developed a love for all things nautical, especially ships.

After leaving the Coast Guard, Floyd returned to Michigan and lived with his brother Wray and his wife in the Marne area. He worked as a janitorial supervisor before taking a job with Coca-Cola in the delivery division and volunteering with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department. He eventually secured a job as a pressman at Eerdmans Printing Co where he worked for 39 years. After Eerdmans closed in 2005, Floyd worked for Federal Armored, driving an armored truck. He really enjoyed the job and especially his northern route. As he drove the area he loved, he would listen to his music on his MP3 player. He had many messengers who rode with him over the years, and he made several friendships that lasted after his full retirement in 2017.

During his time at Coca-Cola, Floyd was set up on a blind date with Janice Parmer by mutual friends who were dating. The four friends went to a drive-in movie and then back to the friend's house. When they found themselves alone, Floyd went out to his car to get his guitar and sang to Janice. It was at this moment that Janice discovered Floyd's love of music and her love of Floyd!

Floyd and Janice saw more of each other, particularly on their lunch breaks when they would walk together, and just a few months later, he proposed on one of those walks. As they walked, he tossed her ring up in the air, and she did not even notice. With happy hearts, the couple married on September 3 at a co-worker's house, in a ceremony officiated by the Justice of Peace. The newlyweds took their honeymoon trip on the road to Ohio, where Floyd proudly introduced his bride to his father and stepmother.

Settling into the first-floor apartment in a four-apartment home near downtown Grand Rapids, Floyd and Janice enjoyed the proximity to Janice's mother, who lived in the apartment across from theirs. Sadly, Janice's mother was in a fatal car accident, just three months after their daughter Sandi was born, and they moved. In time, they purchased a mobile home in a community, where their daughters, LeAnn and Trisha, joined the family. Together, Floyd and Janice raised their three daughters—Sandi, LeAnn, and Trisha—while also embracing Floyd’s daughter, Sally, who was born before he met Janice, as a cherished part of their family. They made many lifelong friendships there that extend generations and remain today.

They later purchased a home on the northwest side of Grand Rapids before settling into their home in Standale. As Floyd loved anything nautical, including ships, lighthouses, anchors, seagulls, and water, particularly the Great Lakes, of which he had many books on, their homes were decorated in this theme for many years. Floyd loved driving out to Grand Haven with Janice or with the girls on Father's Day. As they sat watching the boats, he would say, "$10, $20, $30," counting the money boaters were spending on fuel to go fast once they took off from the end of the pier.

He was a natural master at conflict resolution and personal counseling. The family home included a "Board Room" in the basement, where Floyd moderated any conflicts between family members. This is one of many reasons his family is so close today, generations later – he made his family work through the ups and downs of growing up, getting married, and raising children. The "Board Room" was in Floyd's tool room downstairs, which was meticulously organized and featured a stereo system, special-effect lighting, and, of course, nautical decorations. Not only did the family wrestle through their conflicts there, but this was also a room over the years where the family had so many fun times "partying" together, listening and singing to his music, laughing, and spending time together. These spaces were Floyd, and his family has found much comfort down there together since his passing.

Floyd loved music and always had the greatest stereo system, speakers, and special-effect lighting. Over the years he had to change his systems to accommodate the changing ways of music distribution; records, reel-to-reels, 8 tracks, cassettes, CD’s, MP3’s and digital downloads – he had it all. He played the guitar and harmonica and sang. His favorite instrument was the steel guitar, and he would always say, "I don't listen to the words; I listen to the music." He spent countless hours listening to, playing, and singing his favorite Country, Bluegrass, and 70's rock and roll tunes, and he loved throwing parties where the music and lights were always the main event.

A man who found joy in life's simple pleasures, Floyd loved tinkering in his tool room, camping, and guns. He kept his tools organized with a Dewey-decimal-like system and was a resourceful problem-solver long before MacGyver showed up on TV. He had a dirt-bike phase that ended with a crash and the sale of the bike to buy camping equipment. Just like his stereo, his camping gear was top-of-the-line. Many wonderful camping trips were made to Hesperia in the Manistee National Forest, where they camped in rustic style with their friends and their families. He liked learning about and collecting guns and ammo and enjoyed skeet and target shooting over the years. Floyd did not need a lot, but he did love to get all the modern technology when it came out, like bag cell phones, microwaves, VCRs, and multi-disc CD players.

Floyd held deep respect for life, including all animals and even insects. He refused to kill bugs, firmly declaring, "What did it ever do to you?" before capturing them with his special bug vacuum and releasing them outside. The family's first pet was Chopper the cat, who was adored and followed by several cats, birds, and hamsters when the kids were young. Once the kids were grown and had moved out, Floyd and Janice had several dogs, including Shady, Nikki, and Zoe. One of his daughters had a little Pomchi, Tanner, who hated men, Floyd's animal-whisperer gifts ensured they instantly became best friends, and Tanner went to live with Floyd. He had a special way with all dogs, they knew his kind, animal loving heart.

For a while, Floyd was into photography. He especially liked taking staged abstract pictures and the process of developing his film. He also loved decorating for Halloween and Christmas, setting up all the lights and many animated characters. Then, he would get his grandkids to count down or clap to turn them on, they thought it was magic! As he grew older, he supervised his daughters in the decorating and would "fine-tune" their work after they left with little adjustments until it was perfect.

Floyd and Janice continued to have fun together, hosting parties and camping. Their adult children and their friends spent many years enjoying these activities with them, where so many wonderful memories were made. He liked his computer room with his well-organized equipment, searching and learning on the internet, finding pictures and memes to email to his family, playing card games and puzzles, listening to his music, and little did the family know, saving and organizing family photos on his computer. What a treasure for his family to discover the archive of decades of memories. Floyd also used his creative skills to make birthday cards with the photos he collected, especially for his dear wife, Janice. In signature Floyd-style, the computer room was a story of his life, lined with corkboards that held his trinkets and treasures, decorated with the things that were most important to him, what he was most proud of, and the special things he experienced and accomplished. This has been another room of comfort for the family since his passing.

A father figure to many and teacher of all life lessons, Floyd was the best advice-giver. Full of “Dadisms,” he happily shared a gold nugget of wisdom from his massive collection of quotes. Those who knew him best will long remember him saying things like, "This too shall pass, it might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass." The six P's: "Previous planning prevents piss poor performance." "Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug." "No one ever really wins a fight; one person just loses more than the other." "A marriage is like a company; always remember you work for the same company," or "Scoreboards have no business in a marriage; you're on the same team." "Never loan more money than you are willing to lose."

Though Floyd was baptized at age 6 and has always been a believer, like many followers, he had many questions. He and Janice moved to Faith United Church of God in the late 2000’s. Later, when their pastor left to become a hospice chaplain, Pastor Emily came into his life. Floyd sat in the back, where he worked church security. As they worked together, she answered many of his questions and, over the years, brought him into a personal relationship with God, forming an incredibly special bond with one another.

One of the greatest gifts Floyd gave those who loved him was the example of his marriage. He and Janice were best friends who lovingly called one another "Ma" and "Pa" and shared a special love that inspired all who were blessed to witness it. As their family grew, Floyd's pride grew as well. He cherished time spent with his loved ones and often told those who cared for him how lucky and blessed he was to have the most wonderful woman in the world as his wife and spoke about the amazing family they created together. His heartfelt gratitude often left others in tears. In that same spirit of love and devotion, Floyd and Janice later moved both of his parents closer to them after each lost their spouse, caring for them with deep compassion and dignity throughout their final years as they faced terminal cancer.

In retirement, Floyd had no desire to travel. Having moved so much as a kid, he relished staying put. His home was his happy place, where he enjoyed watching documentaries, murder mysteries, Cops and Live PD, Deadliest Catch, America's Funniest Home Videos, and America's Got Talent. He had a routine of looking at the TV schedule and setting up the DVR to record his shows for the week. He grew very particular about garbage, systematically reducing trash and maximizing how much would fit in the house's garbage can and the outdoor garbage bin. It was his favorite game to play, puzzle to complete, and challenge to take on. Under no circumstances could extra bags be placed outside the garbage bin or the lid even be propped open. He wanted to make sure the garbage hauler would not have to get out of the truck or inconvenience them in any way. Some may have called it an obsession, including his entire family!

Since 2018, Floyd battled cancer of some form or another. He faced twenty-one surgeries to treat the cancer, with grace, dignity, gratitude, and no complaining at all. In fact, he apologized and thanked all the wonderful doctors, nurses, and hospital staff who helped him. They loved him and would even fight over who would get to be his nurse!

During this time, he enjoyed spending time with his family "glamping," going to breakfast with many friends, and enjoying his home time with his beloved "Ma," the TV, computer, and music he loved so much. His appetite slowed with his illness, but through it all, he never lost his love for his breakfast sweets. He loved donuts, especially a long john from Wesco, which he always said were so big they could serve as a meal!

In December of 2025, Floyd was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer and had a large tumor removed. The following April, the cancer returned with another tumor; the cancer had spread, and the diagnosis was stage 4. He started immunotherapy, which caused difficult side effects that led to complications that allowed him to choose comfort care and relish the time to say goodbye to his family. Floyd led this time with his customary quiet sense of humor. One of the last things he told one of his grandsons was that he did not appreciate everyone sitting around and just staring at him!

As we celebrate Floyd's amazing life, may we find much comfort in our many treasured memories. May we also find comfort in the honor of carrying his legacy of faith, hope, and love forward. In each moment we greet the day with gratitude, listen with our hearts, seek the knowledge we desire, follow our passions, play our favorite songs, sing with abandon, graciously face life's challenges, cheer on our loved ones' endeavors, and enjoy quiet time with our beloved, we keep Floyd's memory alive and inspiring others as he so inspired us.

Mr. Floyd William Ertle, age 82, of Grand Rapids, MI, went to be with his Lord and Savior on June 12, 2026, surrounded by his family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Virgil (Delores) Ertle and Katherine (Dee) Nabors; in-laws, Paul (Eleanor) Parmer; and brothers, Wray and David Ertle. Floyd is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Janice; children, Sally Riffle, Sandi (Keith) Berryhill, LeAnn (John Powers) Sehr, and Trisha (Brad Start) Rasch; grandchildren, Chad (Natalie) Riffle, Holly (Donnie) Danklefsen, Derrick (Megan) Noordyke, Alisha (Mike Martinez) Sehr, Brian (Crissy) Sehr, Caleb (Stephany) Rasch, Nathan Berryhill, Christopher Berryhill, and Curtis (Taylor) Rasch; 15 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews and many friends.

The memorial service will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, June 27, 2026, at Faith United Church of God, 3290 Walker Ave NW. Family and friends may visit from 4-7 PM on Friday at church as well as from 10-11 AM prior to the service on Saturday. Contributions in his memory may be made to Faith United Church of God or St. Mary's Foundation-Palliative Care Legacy Program. Celebrate Floyd's life by sharing a favorite photo or memory on his dedicated memory page at heritagelifestory.com