FMAR: Pete, Marcy LaFramboise tell plans of retirement

It was April 3, 2003 that Pete and Marcy LaFramboise started Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue that has saved thousands of cat and dogs over the 19 years of its existence. FMAR, a no-kill shelter, has an enthusiastic local following and one Belleville resident has been sending a check every month since the beginning.
Now, they have retired, but still volunteer at the shelter which is on their property behind their house on Arkona Road in Sumpter Township. They hope people will continue to support the shelter.
The FMAR board, now at three members, runs the shelter and rents the facilities from the LaFramboises. Although they worked 12-16 hour days at the shelter over the 19 years, they have never been paid for that. The board will be hiring an executive director. There are now seven paid employees and many faithful volunteers.
The spark of FMAR started with Pete’s retirement after 30 years with General Motors Hydramatic plant driving a high-low. He said he always worked construction, but after he and Marcy married and had twin sons, his father talked him into getting a more solid job that didn’t close down in the winter.
It was 30 and out and Pete said he was planning on sitting on the couch, eating bonbons and watching TV after retirement. Marcy was still working as Customer Service Manager at Ford Component Sales.
Marcy suggested he volunteer for Huron Valley Humane Society and he did. She volunteered some, as well, and one day Huron Valley euthanized all the cats in the shelter because one got a transmittable disease. They were all in separate cages and weren’t in contact with each other and so the LaFramboises didn’t think that was necessary.
They resigned as volunteers and wrote a letter to the Huron Valley board to explain.
Then, they volunteered with the Van Buren Township Animal Shelter, which was located next to what is now Grace Lake Corporate Center on Tyler Road.
Along came Hopalong and after VBT Animal Control Officer Al Ostrowski put the dog on TV, Van Buren Township got thousands of dollars of donations to help with his health care.
Van Buren Township gave the Laframboises all the letters with money in it and she sent all the money back, since it wasn’t needed.
VBT kept $20,000 and gave Pete and Marcy $7,500 to distribute to shelters and they did.
They had been taking care of dogs from the VBT shelter at their Sheldon Road home, which Marcy called their “dream home.”
She said she and Pete got on the computer and within four weeks had formed FMAR with a nonprofit status for a fee of $500 to enable them to raise unlimited funds.
Then, Billy ran away. He was a dog surrendered by his owner to VBT and so they had to build a fence.
They wanted to put in a kennel, but VBT told them they needed 40 acres or to buy an existing kennel. Marcy said there was only one existing kennel in the township and the owner did not wish to sell.
They went looking for a place for the pets and found the six-and-a-half acres in Sumpter Township and, “Sumpter wanted us there,” Marcy said. The land on Arkona Road, just off Rawsonville Road, had an 8,400 square foot barn, a smaller barn, and a house that was falling down.
It was perfect for the animals. The polebarn has been added on three times since then. She said they needed a bathroom and now there are three on the property. The dog kennels were expanded and there are about 27 dogs there now.
Sumpter Township now uses the shelter to house the strays the police pick up. She said 75% of the dogs are not reclaimed by owners and many are taken into the shelter to go out for adoption.
They were able to get another pole barn donated and moved it six miles south on Rawsonville Road. Gasper moved it for free and DTE, Wayne County, Washtenaw County, and Sumpter Township offered free services. Marcy said the only charge came from AT&T, where their son worked. It charged $5,000.
All the cats were put into that building. Cats range in number from 60 to 70 in the cold months, to 100 to 120 in the summer, Marcy said.
That pole barn has an inside now that is like a house with lots of storage and areas for the cats to play. Marcy said she gets down on her hands and knees to scrub the floors for the cat house to keep it clean.
FMAR instituted a Trap, Neuter, Return program and has a van for that, along with the van for the main shelter.
Marcy quit her job in 2011 and there were no retirement benefits, like Pete had. She said she gave money to the shelter from her 401K for it to pay its rent back to her and Pete.
“We’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the shelter,” Marcy said, including the payments Pete made from his pocket for the three pieces of heavy equipment in the shelter’s name.
Now that they are retired, they were able to go up to Rose City to clean out the trailer owned by Pete’s late father and to “visit every restaurant in Cadillac”.
Before retirement, they only took Thanksgiving week off and gave the board and volunteers lots of time to plan for the fill-in shelter work.
Marcy said they had recently redone the house and she loves her new kitchen. “I’m not leaving the house,” she said.
Pete will be 69 in November and Marcy is 67. They have three sons. Peter and his wife Belinda live in South Carolina with their son Hayden. Paul and his wife Taleah live in Van Buren Township and have a son Danny and his wife Jessica. That’s where the two great-grandchildren some from — Addie and Arthur. Son James and his wife Kelly live in North Dakota and their three children are all in college: Andrew, Sarah, and Simon.
The family is deciding what to do with the property in Rose City, about a three-hour drive north. It’s a nice place for getting away.
“It’s time to let the new generation take over,” said Marcy, adding they are still supporting the shelter and will go to its fundraisers.
“It’s about the animals,” Marcy said.
Pete, who grew up on Endicott in Quirk subdivision, and Marcy, who grew up on Lenmoore, both graduated from Belleville High School. Pete had been out of school a couple of years when they met during her junior year and they were married her senior year. They will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Aug. 14.