Martha Gilmore Parfet

Community icon Martha Gilmore Parfet, the granddaughter of W.E. Upjohn, has died. Parfet died Monday morning, Feb. 20 2017, at her home on Gull Lake from complications of heart disease, said her son, Donald Parfet. She was 91. Parfet was the granddaughter of W.E. and Rachel Babcock Upjohn and James and Carrie Sherwood Gilmore of the Gilmore Brothers Department Store. W.E. Upjohn was founder of The Upjohn Co., which now is part of Pfizer. Her parents were Donald and Genevieve Gilmore. She was the last surviving of W.E. Upjohn's 11 grandchildren. Parfet was chairwoman of the board of Gilmore Bros. Department Store, which was long-time fixture in downtown Kalamazoo. She also served as president of the Kalamazoo Foundation, now known as the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. She was on the board of the Kalamazoo Nature Center in its early years and remained active with the organization for many years. She married Ray T. "Ted" Parfet in 1945. They had four children, William, Donald, Sally and Jane, 10 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. Ted Parfet was named president and general manager of The Upjohn Co. in 1962, then promoted to chairman and CEO from 1969 to 1987. He died in 2006 at age 84.