Beth Andrea Bagley-Stanton

Beth Bagley-Stanton, 66, died at home on Nov. 17, 2023, the end of a life that brought joy to so many others. Missing her already are her husband of 40 years, Tom; their sons, Zack (Molly), William and Taylor (Sophie); her brother Rick (Peg) Bagley; a handful of nieces and nephews; and many official and de facto godchildren. A lifelong resident of New Baltimore, Beth was a beloved presence in her community. Her story hours were exuberant and song-filled, a mainstay of childhood for generations of kids in the Anchor Bay area. Many grew up to bring their own little ones to Storytime with Mrs. Beth, singing along to distantly familiar melodies they hadn’t heard since they themselves sat cross-legged on the floor. The opening lines of one of those songs — “love is something if you give it away, you end up having more” — captured her approach to life. Her affection for books and music started early as a way to experience the world beyond the shores of Lake St. Clair. The only surviving daughter of Richard Bagley, a Canadian-born tool and die maker, and Marj Egge, a kindergarten teacher, Beth graduated from Anchor Bay High School in 1975. She earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Central Michigan and a master’s in library science from Wayne State. While director of New Baltimore Public Library, she opened it up as a community space. Her decision to welcome teens who wanted a place to play “Dungeons and Dragons” led an area pastor to campaign for her firing. (He was unsuccessful.) She later worked as a reference librarian, children’s librarian and school librarian in Macomb County. At the New Baltimore library, she met her future husband, then a young, self-styled hotshot reporter, when he came in to ask who owned the car outside with a John Anderson for President bumper sticker. (She did.) Tom was drawn to her dancing blue eyes (which lasted until the end), and she to his luxuriant brown hair (which did not). In 1983, the same year they married, they founded the Bay Voice newspaper with Dorothy and Joe Stabile. The paper expanded into a chain of weeklies as their family grew — to three in 1985, when Zachary was born, to five newspapers by 1988, when William and Taylor arrived. (“We stopped having kids when they started coming in pairs,” Beth often said.) Her children were the center of her life. She nourished their creativity with dress-up parties, talent shows and imaginative bedtime stories. She chauffeured them to extracurriculars and never missed a ball game or band concert, attending because she cared deeply when something mattered to those she loved. She developed a superhuman ability to see the good in everyone. She was a mentor to dozens, a mother figure of sorts to dozens more. (“She will always be my Mary Poppins,” one told Beth’s family shortly before she passed.) Beth was involved in New Baltimore Historical Society, Anchor Bay Community Foundation and Anchor Bay Community Band, and was New Baltimore’s citizen of the year in 2008. She loved music and playing guitar, and could often be heard singing harmonies to Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Arlo Guthrie or CSN. Her sweet tooth (strawberry rhubarb pie, key lime pie, anything baked by Gerri Mack) lasted until the end, even as early-onset Alzheimer’s stripped her world to studs. In the closing weeks of her life, surrounded by her husband and children, her words were sometimes unintelligible. But the affection behind them was apparent. Her love was something: She gave it away; she ended up having more. Memorial visitation will be 2-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24, with a service at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wasik Funeral Home in New Baltimore, located at 35259 Twenty-Three Mile Road 48047. Memorials may be made to the Anchor Bay Community Foundation.

Beth Andrea Bagley-Stanton

July 14, 1957 - November 17, 2023