Marvin and June Patmos

Marvin and June (Serum) Patmos - Class of 1938

Posthumous 

2024 Lifetime Legacy Award 

Marvin Patmos was born in 1920 on the family’s farm in Jamestown Township, MI. The family of five children raised dairy cows, pigs, and chickens. They had a large produce farm and sold produce in Grand Rapids and Detroit. It was on the farm that he learned to work hard, usually fifteen or more hours a day. Because he was the oldest boy and his mother had health issues, his formal education ended with his 8th-grade graduation from the one-room schoolhouse of Gitchel School. 

About the same time as Marv's 8th-grade graduation, the Serum family moved to Hudsonville from Chicago because June’s father was having difficulty finding work as a brick mason. June grew up in the South Blendon area and graduated from Hudsonville High School in 1938.

Marv left the farm when his younger brother could handle the work and purchased a grocery store in Morley about an hour north of Hudsonville. He married June Serum in 1949, after the loss of her first husband, Edwin Albrecht, during the war. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Marv sold his grocery store and went back to his farming roots. He and his wife began raising baby chickens in their basement in Hudsonville. Using his retail skills, June packed the eggs, and Marv sold them door to door in Grand Rapids. Having learned the importance of customer service and focus on quality from his grocery store experience, he put that knowledge to good use as Sunrise Acres began to grow. 

In 1950 Marv and June built a 30’ x 100’ chicken house that was two stories tall. From the 1950s through the 1980s, Sunrise Acres steadily grew. He gradually added more hens, acres and employees to the farming operation. Marv and June's family grew as well, raising five children: John Albrecht and Dick, Barb, Linda and Bill Patmos. 

In the 1990’s his two sons, Bill and Dick, bought the egg operation, while Marv and June maintained ownership of some land and the feed mill. 

Marv always regretted not being able to further his formal education beyond the 8th grade, so he adapted by observing other successful people becoming an avid reader. He read any materials that would help further his pursuits. Marv and June became passionate about the availability of books in their community and the ability of their neighbors to further their education if they could not attend college. When the Jamestown Township Library, originally built in 1965, outgrew its current building, Marv and June Patmos donated $1,000,000 to open the Patmos Library in 2000. 

Marv and June credit their success to God's blessings. This knowledge kept them humble and thankful throughout their lives. Marv would also say that he would have failed without June. He trusted her advice and they were a close team throughout their sixty-one years of marriage. In 1964, Marv and June were selected by the Secretary of Agriculture to be a part of a delegation to the Netherlands where they met Queen Juliana. 

In 2010, Marv and June passed away within six months of each other. After June passed, Marv could be heard saying, "I sure miss my sweetheart.” Marv remained active in the business until his passing. 

During Marv's life, he served on the Hudsonville Public Schools Board of Education from 1964-1976 where he worked to support the education of the students in the community and was a member of the Lions Club. Marv and June truly enjoyed giving back to various organizations. They believed strongly in hard work, doing things the right way, and having faith in God to believe in the impossible.