Get Involved
Donate to the PTHS
Your financial contribution helps us further the work of our Society. Donations are tax deductible and may be made in honor or memory of individuals. We are currently building an endowment to further the work of the Society, and please consider moving up to one of our Special Gifting Categories for special donor recognition and benefits.
To contribute, click the green Join / Donate / Buy a Brick button or the left-menu link. This takes you to our payment page where you may pay online using a secure PayPal donate link or download and print a form to send with your check by mail.
We also greatly appreciate contributions of documents, photographs, books, and realia that help tell the story of Pittsfield Township.
The Pittsfield Township Historical Society is a charitable, tax exempt organization. All contributions to the society are tax deductible under federal and state law.
Thank you to our Special Gifting Level donors!
Founder ($100,000+)
Harold and Mary Wilson
Patentee ($10,000+)
LaSalle Bank, Pittsfield Office (first Business Patentee)
C. Edward and Mary Ellen Wall (first Patentee) (in memory of their parents)
Pioneer ($5,000+)
Estate of Delores Church
Donald (d) and Betty LeClair (in memory of Arthur and Irene Frey, plus gifts made in their names in honor of their fiftieth wedding anniversary)
Robert and Ernestine (d) Meenan (first Pioneer)
James (d) and Helen Richards
Settler ($1,000+)
Avis, Warren (d)
Bemis, John & Michelle
Brackenbury, Robert & Mandy Grewal
Diebold, Margaret (d)
Dodds, Mr. & Mrs. Greg
DTE Foundation
Glass, Richard & Jocelyn (d)
Hagen, Ray and Sonja
Harwood, Janice
Heller, Stephen & Elizabeth Hopp McGuire
Kettlewell, Douglas & Karen
Lloyd & Mabel Johnson Foundation
Margaret Lillie Memorial
Paas, Al
Pittsfield Seniors
Robert Lillie Memorial
Salvette, John & Emily (in memory of Clayton A. Hopp)
Sam’s Club
Scherdt, Brian & Mariann
Scribner, Edward (d) & Patricia Tupacz
Sharp, Christopher & Andrea
Ticknor, Carl
Walmart
Wilson, Anita & Thom McCollum
Woolley, Douglas & Evelyn (d) (in memory of James D. Reader, Sr.)
Resident ($250+)
Adams, Jerroll & Cynthia
Atwell Hicks
Coleman, Lloyd (in memory of Edward Coleman)
Donegan, Kenneth & Eileen
Michael Lillie Memorial
Oak Valley Centre Partnership
Pittsfield Residents for Better Government
Pittsfield Union Grange #882
Reader, Helene (d) & Barbara
Wells, Martelle
Patron ($125+)
Arrington, Daniel & Kathleen
Belfy, Leo & Michelle (Argon Repair & Maintenance)
Briggs, Darwyn & Susie (in memory of his great-grandfather, Van Rensselaer Tyler)
Patron (cont.)
Carpenter, George
Cruse, Mary (d)
Hamel, David M.
Harshberger, Matt & Amy
Iverson, Susan
Janikowski, Charles & Mary
Karam, Abe & Elaine
Koch, Don (d) & Marlene Hintz
Lirones, Mary
Morris, EA Jackson
Payeur, Russell & Catherine
Rundle, Carol & Dave
Sarns, Richard & Norma
Sclater, Steve & Debbie
Thayer, Carl & Shirley
Tupacz, Theresa & Garrett Morales
Become a Member of the PTHS
Membership in the Pittsfield Township Historical Society is open to any person or organization interested in preserving the past and making it meaningful for current and future generations. PTHS members may vote at member meetings, receive by mail a quarterly newsletter with brief articles on historic topics, and they join a community of engaged volunteers helping to sustain our history for future generations.
Become a member today for as little as $5 per year for students. Other annual membership categories include individual ($15) and family ($25). Dues cover our membership year of October 1 to September 30. Or consider becoming a PTHS Lifetime member for a one-time payment or cumulative donations of $5,000.
To join the PTHS or renew your membership, click the green Join / Donate / Buy a Brick button above or the left-menu link. It will take you to our payment page where you may pay online through our secure PayPal link or download a form to print, complete and mail with your check. Thank you for joining us!
Charter members Don and Betty LeClair
honored at the 2016 Harvest Festival.
Betty served as the first PTHS President
from 1998-2013. Don managed restoration
of the Sutherland-Wilson Farm
until his death in 2019.
Society Officers and Trustees
Officers
President - Elizabeth McGuire Heller: (734) 972-6016, email: emheller58@gmail.com
Vice President - Mary Ellen Wall: (734) 434-4074; or email: mew_42strat@yahoo.com
Secretary - Jacklyn Morris Shock: email: shockjpe@gmail.com
Treasurer - Carol Rundle: email: rundle321@aol.com
Historical Commission Liaison - Mary Ellen Wall: (734) 434-4074; or email: mew_42strat@yahoo.com
Trustee - Anton Ferguson
Trustee - Steven Heller
Trustee - Al Paas
Trustee - Theresa Tupacz
Trustee - Anita Wilson
Historian: Mary Ellen Wall
Thank you to our Lifetime Members!
Jerroll & Cynthia Adams
John & Michelle Bemis
Robert Brackenbury & Mandy Grewal
Mr. & Mrs. Greg Dodds
Kenneth & Eileen Donegan
Richard Glass
Ray & Sonja Hagen
Janice Harwood
Elizabeth Hopp McGuire Heller & Stephen Heller
Douglas & Karen Kettlewell
Betty LeClair
Robert Meenan
Al Paas
Helen Richards
Emily Hopp Salvette
Brian & Mariann Scherdt
Patricia Scribner
Christopher & Andrea Sharp
Carl Ticknor
C. Edward & Mary Ellen Wall
Anita Wilson & Thom McCollum
Doug Woolley
Pittsfield Township Historical Society
Charter Members
(Joined October 1, 1998 to September 30, 1999)
Stephen Berger
Carol Ann Birch
Harriet A. Birch
David Bird
Mary A. Campbell
Lloyd Coleman
Lora Combez
Dale Dohler
Mary Ellen Eaton
Rose Farrell
Dale Fosdick
Marilyn Fosdick
Laura Freye-Russ
Ethel J. Fritts
Pauline Geddes
Alberta Heininger Grant
Dean Greb
Keturah Thunder Haab
Loren Hansen
Craig Harvey
Jeanne Heininger
Kenneth Heininger
Elizabeth Hopp McGuire Heller
Betty Jones
Hebert Jones
Matthew Katalinich, Vice President
James Kay
Karen Kettlewell
Betty L. LeClair, President
Donald LeClair
Margaret Lillie
Robert Lillie
Christina Lirones
Mary Lirones
Diane Makielski, Trustee
Edward Makielski
Daniel Maloney
Elizabeth McMullan, Trustee
Wanda Montibeller
William Pearlman
Sheryl Ernst Purol
John Phillips
K. Gail Phillips
Steven Phillips
Peter Pollack
Helen Richards, Historian
James Richards
Carol Rundle
John Russ
Emily Hopp Salvette
Barbara Scherer
John Scherer
Christine Schmuckal
Ralph Schmuckal, Secretary/Treasurer
Marjorie Shelton
Shirley Spitz
Marcia Ticknor
James Walter
Judith Walter
Mona Wenzel, Trustee
Douglas Woolley
Evelyn J. Woolley
Buy a Commemorative Brick
Commemorative bricks "Pave the Path" on the farm where the Sutherland-Wilson family lived for six generations. Personalized bricks are installed in the LeClair Ramp to the restored 1830s barn and in the access ramp to the farmhouse. The top of the LeClair Ramp is reserved to commemorate military service.
You may choose 3-line, 6-line, 9-line, or corporate logo size bricks personalized with your name or others you wish to honor or memorialize. Personalized bricks are great gift ideas for friends and family, anniversaries, or other special memories.
Please order today. Click the green Donate / Join / Buy a Brick button above or left-menu link. You’ll be helping further historic preservation work in our community while preserving your memories. Remember, the Pittsfield Township Historical Society is a 501 (c) 3 organization so your donation is tax-deductible.
Come to an Event
The PTHS holds programs featuring guest speakers or visits to historic sites and museums. Members also provide docent-led tours of the historic Sutherland-Wilson Farm House from 2-5 pm on the 3rd Sunday of the month, May - October. We are proud to participate in Pittsfield Charter Township's annual Harvest Festival in the fall. (This event has been on hold due to the Covid pandemic).
Anyone may attend one of our bimonthly PTHS board meetings or the annual meeting in October, which are normally held at the Sutherland-Wilson Farm at 6:30 pm, 797 W Textile Rd, Ann Arbor 48108.
Our events explore history in fun and informative ways that appeal to all ages. And they're free. Click the blue Upcoming Events button or the left-menu link to see our upcoming events page, and please come join us!
Volunteer
We couldn't do what we do without volunteers! Whether it's doing preservation work on an historic building, cleaning the Sutherland-Wilson farmhouse so it's ready for tours, speaking at one of our programs, tidying up the landscaping in an historic cemetery, filing historical documents for the archives, or serving as a board member, we can put anyone to work! What's your interest? Contact us at info@pittsfieldhistory.org to volunteer.