Dorothy Mae Lincoln Rice

Dorothy Rice, 97, lifelong resident of St. Joseph passed away on Sunday, April 22, at Jordan’s Nursing Home. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2:00P.M Wednesday, April 25 in the Carrie Upton Chapel of the First Congregational Church in St. Joseph with visitation beginning at 1:00P.M. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Kerley-Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home. She will be laid to rest in the City Cemetery on Lakeview Ave. in St. Joseph. The Rice Family is one of St. Joseph’s pioneers. Dorothy’s maternal grandparents came to Benton Harbor in a covered wagon from the East. Her father’s name was really John Lincoln. His family can trace its lineage back to President Lincoln. When he was only five years old John’s parents died, and he was put on a train with a note pinned on him with his name and destination. He was sent to his uncle, Dwight Rice, in St. Joseph. Dwight and his wife adopted him and changed his name from Lincoln to Rice. R. Gates Rice started Rice and Son Grocery Store in 1868 on State Street. Later the Herald Press occupied the same building. In a few years his son, Zebina, took over the store. In 1871 the store was moved to the 200 block of State Street, and in 1883 the final move was to the new two-story Rice Building on the corner of State and Broad. The name RICE BLOCK is still sculpted on the building. Dorothy’s grandfather, Dwight, and her Uncle Nelson, took over the business. The store carried a line of fine china, lamps, feed and flour. Dorothy’s Uncle Nelson was the Mayor of St. Joseph from 1901 to 1905 and also served a term as State Representative. After Dorothy’s grandfather died in 1898, her father, John, took over the business having attended business school in Chicago. He sold the business in 1933, and it became the bus station. Dorothy, a well-known pianist and piano teacher, taught music to countless numbers of students during her lifetime. She studied music at the Sherwood School of Music in Chicago and was coached by Dr. Maurice Dumasnil, a student of Claude Debussy of Paris. Her favorite solo was Clare de lune. She was a member of the Michigan Federation of Music Clubs, a 77-year member of the Twin-City Monday Musical Club and past-president of the Twin-City Teachers Club. Dorothy is survived by a niece, Donna Pelto; a nephew, Timothy Rice; and close friends, David Jackson, Mildred Fiori and Helen Houseal. Memorials may be made to the First Congregational Church in St. Joseph or the charity of your choice. Those wishing to share condolences may do so online at www.starks-menchinger.com