John Northup

John Norman Northup of East Jordan passed away on Sept. 19, 2014. He was born Oct. 17, 1928 in Detroit, MI. He grew up in Detroit and went on to graduate from Purdue University with a Bachelors of Engineering in 1950. He entered the US Army subsequent to graduation and married his wife, Carol Schulz in 1951. John built luxury homes in Northville, MI from the mid- 1950's through the 60's. He then went on to build commercial real estate. In 1972, he moved his family and business to Northern Michigan. During the recession he went to Nigeria, Africa and built concrete homes for the Nigeria government. He continued building until his retirement at age 71 in 1999. In addition to his passion for construction, John became enthralled with the advent of the personal computer in the mid 1980's. He began developing and selling software for the construction industry. John had a passion for life. He was an avid sportsman; hunting and fishing. He started his family's passion for snow skiing in the early 1960's and then continued with water skiing in the late 1960's. He learned to tie flies for fishing and make shot bullets for duck hunting. He and his neighborhood buddies started a gourmet club where the 8 couples met every other month for the selected cuisine and the men did the cooking. This club existed for close to 20 years. John owned boats, planes and automobiles. He took up aviation in the early 1960's and flew for a number of years. John and Carol had three children. He lost his wife Carol to cancer in 1993. He is survived by his children Sandy (Rusty) Barnes of Eastport, Sue (Joe) Farrell of Johns Creek, GA, and John Northup of Charlevoix; his grandchildren Casey (Jennifer) Barnes and great granddaughter Kendall of Fort Collins, CO, Kyle (Danielle) Barnes of Wyoming, MI, Patrick Farrell of Atlanta, GA, and Ryan Farrell of Detroit. Also surviving is his sister Shirley Lipa of Knoxville, TN, brother and sister in law Bill and Betty Schulz of Atwood, and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held Thurs. Oct. 9, at 11 a.m. at the Central Lake Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes with Pastor Harold Kruse officiating. Arrangements have been handled by the Central Lake Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes. Please sign his online guestbook www.mortensenfuneralhomes.com.