Hilda Rose Graves

Boot Lake

 Hilda Rose (Karr) Graves passed into the presence of her Savior Saturday, February 22, 2025 at her home on Boot Lake under the loving care of her family. Hilda was born September 18, 1924 to Howard and Eva (Webb) Karr. She celebrated her one hundredth birthday with family and friends last fall. She was born in Pontiac, Michigan, but she and her family moved to the U.P. when she was still a toddler. Life was not easy for her during the Depression era in the U.P., but her family took joy in music and dancing. She loved to sing old songs that she learned from her family. Hilda’s family also took joy in visiting and sharing stories. Hilda shared with her grandchildren about the time when she was still quite young and had to be on “look out” duty for the law- the U.P. was under Prohibition laws and bootlegging was illegal. Another one of her favorite stories to tell was about the time a bear bit her toe. When she was a little girl, her dad took her to see a trained bear that drank soda pop from a bottle. He warned Hilda not to get too close to the bear. She let her inquisitiveness get the best of her and wandered closer to the bear when no one was looking. She gave the cage a kick and the bear grabbed her foot and bit her shoe, poking a very large hole in her new shoes. Hilda said she felt so bad about not listening to her dad and about ruining her new shoes that she never did tell her family how close she came to that bear. She had many stories about the adventures of wandering through the woods with her brothers, cleaning and running errands at different resorts with her friends, and working at the logging camps with her family. 

Hilda met Robert (Bob) Graves while working at a resort near Boot Lake. She and Bob were married October 6, 1942 in Manistique, Michigan. They were married 72 years. They had six children- Arlene, Bob, Tim, Brenda, Dan, and Chris. Hilda and Bob’s home on Graves Road was the hub of family activity. Both Bob’s and Hilda’s brothers and sisters, most of whom lived in Alger County, visited Hilda and Bob often. Hilda always had a cake in the oven or cookies on the counter, waiting for a chat over coffee. Hilda had many nieces and nephews at her house running in and out going on adventures with her children on the family ponies. She cooked and fed everyone that came into her kitchen. Hilda often spoke of her brothers and brothers-in-law coming home from overseas during WWII, sitting in her kitchen eating and sharing stories while she fed them cake and coffee. Listening is what she was good at- listening with understanding. Hilda and Bob moved down state for a time. She later said that not finishing high school always bothered her. While she lived in Vestaburg, Michigan, Hilda went to night classes to finish high school. She graduated from Montebella High School in 1982 with her children and grandchildren watching her cross the stage for her diploma. She was 58 years old. Hilda and Bob moved back to the U.P. in 1983 and continued running Poplar Bluff Cabins on Boot Lake. Hilda had years of cabin customers find their way into her kitchen, sit at her counter with a cup of coffee, pouring their life stories out to her. Her wit and charm shined through making her an approachable friend even to the hardest characters. 

Hilda spent the last eleven years of her life living with her daughter Brenda and son-in-law Hank St.Amour. She may have lost her kitchen duties, but she didn’t lose her listening skills. There were many evening conversations solving the world’s problems over a root beer float. She loved hearing about the day’s events from her grandchildren and great grandchildren, often adding her words of wisdom, “There’s a reason for everything,” or “It will be better in the morning, ” or “It could be worse.” Hilda’s character can be summarized in one word - pleasant. Happy to see you, happy to visit, happy to help, happy to share what she had. Her main worries were if everyone had been fed, if everyone was warm, and if everyone had a place to sleep. Often her last words when she was tucked in for the night were first, “I can just scooch over if you need a place to sleep,” and then she’d say good night, “Thank you. I love you too. I’m satisfied.” 

 Hilda is survived by her daughters – Arlene “Pudge” Green of Mt. Pleasant and Brenda (Hank) St.Amour of Boot Lake; son – Dan (Mary) Graves of Lilly Lake; daughters-in-law – Linda, Cheri, and Rita Graves; thirteen grandchildren – Johnny (Dawn) Trzeciak, Terry Sue Spears, Craig Trzeciak, Karen Reeves, Robbie (Lorena) Graves, Kurt (Kathy) Graves, Eric (Barbara) Graves, Angel (Brad) Veneberg, Hank (Sherry) St.Amour, Brooke (Tim) Swift, Andy (Kelly) St.Amour, Lei (Luke) Pickard, and Danny (Nicole) Graves; forty-three great grandchildren; sixteen great-great grandchildren; sisters – Helen Mattson and Clara Lindeblad; in-laws – Pat (Rod) Ward and Donny (Judy) Graves; and numerous nieces and nephews. She will be greatly missed.

 She was preceded in death by her parents – Howard and Eva Karr; husband – Bob; sons – Tim, Bob, and Chris Graves; son-in-law – Rod Green; brothers – Richard (Geri) Karr and Merle (Dorothy) Karr; brothers-in-law – William Lindeblad and Gary “Bob” Mattson.

Services will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2025 at the Munising Baptist Church in Wetmore. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Pastor Jason LaFlamme will officiate Hilda’s funeral service at 3:00 p.m. Interment will be at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Munising at a later date.