Original Article Here
From their podiums in the front of the room, representatives from opposite sides of the political spectrum debated their party’s views in front of a camera and a crowd of no more than 25 people.
On Wednesday, April 19, the Calvin College Republicans and the Calvin College Democrats and Liberals joined together for the first time in a debate aimed to inform Calvin students of the political views of each party. The mediated debate allowed the representatives from each organization to present the beliefs of their party and then respond to each other in short rebuttals.
The debate began with Republicans President Peter Giessel outlining six points of what Republicans believe. He emphasized that good government is based on the individual, that free enterprise has made our nation great and the difference between liberals and conservatives. “The emphasis of liberalism says, ‘I’m here to help you, you can’t do it without me,’” said Giessel. “Conservatism says, ‘I did it, this is how I did it, I know you can do it too.’”
Austin Stoub, leader of the Democrats and Liberals, introduced a democratic viewpoint. He highlighted that the “cornerstone of the Democratic party” is the belief in social progress in all areas. “We think the government should supply funds to meet the needs of the people as best they can,” he said. And describing the liberal aspect of the Democrats, he said, “You have the right to do what you want, but your actions must not diminish the rights of other people.”
In the rebuttals, the debate turned more toward the issues, bantering back and forth about school vouchers, abortion, Elían Gonzalez, privatization of Social Security and the Test Ban Treaty, but most of the discussion focused on defense and gun control.
Giessel launched statistics, facts and foreign examples regarding gun control at Stoub, who argued primarily that guns “impinge on a person’s life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” They discussed the constitutionality of school vouchers, Stoub arguing that it violates the separation of church and state, with Giessel firing back asking Stoub to show him the words “separation of church and state” anywhere in the Constitution. Giessel also read the Establishment Clause and explained how a voucher plan would not violate it.
Elían Gonzalez was also a hot topic, one embraced especially by the audience. The arguments of the Republican and Democratic sides pivoted around whether Elían had political asylum or not – whether he was picked up in the water by a fishing boat or the Coast Guard. Directly following was a question from an audience member asking if each side would briefly touch on its views on immigration. Giessel responded that the Republican party welcomes legal immigration, saying, “Illegal immigrants should be stopped just like illegal activity.”
Another hotly debated topic was nuclear weapons and the recently shot down Test Ban Treaty. Giessel put forth that the Test Ban Treaty would not work because it was not enforceable and there was no way to monitor other countries to make sure they would obey the treaty. Stoub fought back saying, “By not signing, we’re only endangering future generations.” He also suggested the treaty outlines three levels of punishment that ultimately led to disarmament.
Throughout the debate, Giessel worked alone while Stoub had two other people backing him – senior Joel Swagman and junior Peter LaGrand. “Giessel did a good job arguing against, at times, three [people],” acknowledged Swagman.
Unfortunatly, the larger team did get cumbersome at times. Thought passed between the backups and Stoub during rebuttals often threw off his concentration and train of thought.
“I really felt like the Democratic side could’ve been represented better,” said freshman Mike DeWitt. “There was a lot of talking in the back and passing of notes, but not much was being said. It didn’t seem like he [Stoub] was well prepared for it. He didn’t seem to have as many examples, and he seemed to draw a blank on some of the issues.”
Another problem surrounding the debate was the moderator. After not being able to secure a non-student moderator, Giessel and Stoub decided that the debate would be co-moderated by two people – one chosen by each side – to eliminate bias. However, the Democrats and Liberals did not try to find someone to act as moderator. According to Stoub, he trusted that Giessel would find someone that would be fair. The task of moderator then rested solely on Justin Grill, next year’s Calvin College Republicans president. “I really didn’t think that the moderator was biased at all,” Stoub said. “He was pretty just on both sides.”
The original goal of the debate to inform Calvin students did not succeed across the board. Many that attended were already familiar with the standard arguments. Others viewed it as a learning experience about their own arguments. “I realized what are the powerful and weak arguments of my position,” said Stoub.
Student response seemed to indicate a need for improvement. “Some topics went on too long, while others weren’t covered,” said sophomore Jordan Adema. “It would be nice if there was a time limit for each person to speak about a particular issue, immediately followed by relevant questions from the audience. As it was, the debate part dragged on for some time, while audience questions were jumbled together at the end.”
There are no tentative plans for another debate, but both organizations’ representatives were positive about how the debate went and hope their successors work to continue to hold bi-partisan forums.
Showing posts with label papers other people wrote. Show all posts
Showing posts with label papers other people wrote. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2005
Open Church appeals to the dissatisfied
Original Article on Chimes Here
Open Church appeals to the dissatisfied
Group provides an informal atmosphere for sharing opinions
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For some people on campus, sitting in church every Sunday morning serves as more of a frustration than an opportunity for spiritual growth. Questions linger in their minds that they are afraid to voice. For others, the need is felt to participate in a free exchange of opinions on matters of faith, instead of sitting in a pew listening to only one. And still others, simply seek another way to grow and learn.
“Open Church” tries to meet the needs of such people, promoting open dialogue and an atmosphere free of structure and leadership. The group was started at the end of last year by senior Joel Swagman.
“I’m so sick of going to a church where all you do is sit and listen,” said Swagman. “You’re told what to read and what to say, but mostly you just sit there and listen. I don’t think that’s what a church should be like at all.”
In contrast to the perceived impersonal and rigid features of institutional churches, Open Church emphasizes participation and relationships, putting equal value on all opinions and life experiences presented by those who come.
“There’s no leader. No one to say what’s right or what’s wrong,” said Swagman. “Basically, everyone reads from the Bible together and decides for himself, and then everyone discusses it with each other and learns from each other.”
The gathering is composed of two sessions every Sunday, both held at Delta 1 (Knollcrest East apartments). The noon session is “unstructured time” to do what people want to do. At 6:30 p.m., a Bible study time is set up. The times are set up this semester to accommodate people who may also want to attend regular church services and/or LOFT.
Discussions in the past have covered issues from prayer, hell and the end times, to social issues like the treatment of women and economic equality. Generally, Biblical passages serve as the basis for discussion. However, on some occasions Biblical passages simply serve as a loose base for more philosophical discussions that arise from conversation, said Swagman.
“What appeals to me about Open Church is the opportunity to discuss Bible passages and the issues that are raised. I like to share my thoughts and hear what others have to say,” said sophomore Rachel Brown, who has been to Open Church several times. “Open Church is different from most other churches in that it involves much more active participation from all who attend.”
So far, participation has been low. Often, Swagman and one other person are the only ones who show up for the noon session. For the most part, one or more people show up for the later Bible study session.
Some are dubious about the concept of Open Church, especially with the fact that a theological leader is absent. Some students are concerned that with the lack of leadership Open Church boasts, certain beliefs may be affirmed that have no strong Biblical basis.
Swagman said that having a voice that is knowledgeable in theological areas would certainly enrich things. But to a large extent I think you can learn just as much from a ‘normal’ person just from their life experiences or their own insight. I think God works through all people.
“There is a rich tradition of theology, and I think you should be careful of discounting that,” he added.
Before Open Church first met, religion and theology Professor Paul Kemeny noted in an interview that “Open Church might be ‘open’ to all sorts of heretical innovations since there would be no spiritual accountability.”
College Chaplain Dale Cooper said there may not be a danger in Open Church, as long as participants are truly committed to learning what God wants for their lives.
“What I think is necessary to grow as Christians is to have more than one person gathered who have to be ferociously honest with each other,” said Cooper.
In addition to having a community that is committed to honesty and other “character qualities” of authenticity, understanding, love, trust and forgiveness, Cooper noted that an emphasis on God’s word is necessary to spiritual growth.
“God’s word ought to shape me, rather than my circumstances shaping my attitude towards him,” said Copper. “Let’s try humbly to listen to him. Do I think that has to be done from a pulpit three feet above? No, I’m not saying anything about that. Put God’s Word there in the presence of people ... and then ask them to help each other.”
Kemeny said last May that one advantage of Open Church is that “perhaps those who will get involved in it will find a church home that meets their felt needs.”
“Since there is no established church in the United States because of the First Amendment, we live in a religious free marketplace where anyone can establish his or her own church,” he said.
Open Church appeals to the dissatisfied
Group provides an informal atmosphere for sharing opinions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For some people on campus, sitting in church every Sunday morning serves as more of a frustration than an opportunity for spiritual growth. Questions linger in their minds that they are afraid to voice. For others, the need is felt to participate in a free exchange of opinions on matters of faith, instead of sitting in a pew listening to only one. And still others, simply seek another way to grow and learn.
“Open Church” tries to meet the needs of such people, promoting open dialogue and an atmosphere free of structure and leadership. The group was started at the end of last year by senior Joel Swagman.
“I’m so sick of going to a church where all you do is sit and listen,” said Swagman. “You’re told what to read and what to say, but mostly you just sit there and listen. I don’t think that’s what a church should be like at all.”
In contrast to the perceived impersonal and rigid features of institutional churches, Open Church emphasizes participation and relationships, putting equal value on all opinions and life experiences presented by those who come.
“There’s no leader. No one to say what’s right or what’s wrong,” said Swagman. “Basically, everyone reads from the Bible together and decides for himself, and then everyone discusses it with each other and learns from each other.”
The gathering is composed of two sessions every Sunday, both held at Delta 1 (Knollcrest East apartments). The noon session is “unstructured time” to do what people want to do. At 6:30 p.m., a Bible study time is set up. The times are set up this semester to accommodate people who may also want to attend regular church services and/or LOFT.
Discussions in the past have covered issues from prayer, hell and the end times, to social issues like the treatment of women and economic equality. Generally, Biblical passages serve as the basis for discussion. However, on some occasions Biblical passages simply serve as a loose base for more philosophical discussions that arise from conversation, said Swagman.
“What appeals to me about Open Church is the opportunity to discuss Bible passages and the issues that are raised. I like to share my thoughts and hear what others have to say,” said sophomore Rachel Brown, who has been to Open Church several times. “Open Church is different from most other churches in that it involves much more active participation from all who attend.”
So far, participation has been low. Often, Swagman and one other person are the only ones who show up for the noon session. For the most part, one or more people show up for the later Bible study session.
Some are dubious about the concept of Open Church, especially with the fact that a theological leader is absent. Some students are concerned that with the lack of leadership Open Church boasts, certain beliefs may be affirmed that have no strong Biblical basis.
Swagman said that having a voice that is knowledgeable in theological areas would certainly enrich things. But to a large extent I think you can learn just as much from a ‘normal’ person just from their life experiences or their own insight. I think God works through all people.
“There is a rich tradition of theology, and I think you should be careful of discounting that,” he added.
Before Open Church first met, religion and theology Professor Paul Kemeny noted in an interview that “Open Church might be ‘open’ to all sorts of heretical innovations since there would be no spiritual accountability.”
College Chaplain Dale Cooper said there may not be a danger in Open Church, as long as participants are truly committed to learning what God wants for their lives.
“What I think is necessary to grow as Christians is to have more than one person gathered who have to be ferociously honest with each other,” said Cooper.
In addition to having a community that is committed to honesty and other “character qualities” of authenticity, understanding, love, trust and forgiveness, Cooper noted that an emphasis on God’s word is necessary to spiritual growth.
“God’s word ought to shape me, rather than my circumstances shaping my attitude towards him,” said Copper. “Let’s try humbly to listen to him. Do I think that has to be done from a pulpit three feet above? No, I’m not saying anything about that. Put God’s Word there in the presence of people ... and then ask them to help each other.”
Kemeny said last May that one advantage of Open Church is that “perhaps those who will get involved in it will find a church home that meets their felt needs.”
“Since there is no established church in the United States because of the First Amendment, we live in a religious free marketplace where anyone can establish his or her own church,” he said.
Students join funeral procession at SOA
Original Chimes Article Here
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By Klaas Hoekema
WORLD NEWS EDITOR
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By Klaas Hoekema
WORLD NEWS EDITOR
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“Let’s go stick it to the man!”
So went the rallying cry from sophomore Marie Mulder, as she and 16 other Calvin students left Calvin on Nov. 19 to protest the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas.
The students, along with three other Grand Rapids residents, made the 16-hour drive to Fort Benning, Ga., to join a demonstration led by the non-profit organization SOA Watch against what the school’s opponents often call the “School of Assassins.”
“The School of the Americas was started with the intentions of preventing communism and promoting stability in Latin America,” said student Eric Ebels. “While communism did fail to gain a foothold, the impact of SOA graduates on Latin America has been disastrous. The history of abuses perman rights violations in their home countries. According to SOA Watch, manuals released by the Pentagon reveal that until 1991, the curriculum included “interrogation techniques like torture, execution, blackmail and arresting the relatives of those being questioned.”
The student organization Calvin Students for Social Justice planned and led the trip to Georgia to give Calvin students a chance to speak out against the school.
“I don’t know if what we did will result in the school closing down or not,” said student Joel Swagman, “but I wanted at least a chance to say I do not support civilians being slaughtered with my tax money.”
“The protest is important because it brings to light the atrocities connected to the School of the Americas,” said Ebels. “Protestors have taken it upon themselves to educate the public, with amazing results.
A few years ago virtually no one, including elected officials, knew of the SOA. This summer, for the first time, the House of Representatives voted to cut the SOA’s funding.”
The protest was held at the gate of Fort Benning, a large military reservation that houses the School of the Americas. Since demonstrations are prohibited on the grounds of Fort Benning, it was illegal for protesters to cross the line into the reservation. On Sunday, Nov. 21, however, more than 4,800 people crossed the line in an act of civil disobedience coordinated by SOA Watch. The purpose of the protest, according to Mulder, was “to commemorate the people who have been killed and to remember them and honor them.”
With this in mind, the act of crossing the line was organized as a funeral march.
At the front of the procession were people carrying coffins to represent the people killed by graduates of the SOA. These were followed by thousands of people carrying crosses marked with the names of individuals killed by Latin American death squads. As people walked across the line, organizers read the names of victims out loud.
“I felt that by crossing the line in the funeral procession I was honoring and mourning the deaths of those killed by the SOA,” said student Meagan Luhrs. “It was an act of civil disobedience, but it was for the dead, not for the glory or sake of being in a protest and receiving attention.”
The protesters hoped to bring the coffins and crosses to the SOA buildings, a few miles inside the base but were stopped by military police about a mile inside the gate. The officers loaded most people onto buses and transported them off the post, but 65 people who physically resisted boarding the buses were taken to a processing center to be photographed and fingerprinted. The 11 Calvin students who crossed the line boarded the buses without being processed.
Two days before the protest, the New York Times reported that Army Secretary Louis Caldera has drawn up plans to change both the name and the curriculum of the school, in order to shift the focus toward instilling democratic values in Latin American leaders. The details of the changes should be revealed in the coming weeks.
Opponents say that the changes will not be enough, however, and that the school must simply be shut down.
“The School of the Americas’ reputation is so bad that even if they put these changes in place, I’m not sure it goes far enough,” said Representative Joe Moakley (D-Mass.), as quoted in the Times article. “It’s like putting perfume on a toxic dump.”
Many of the Calvin students who went to the protest say that the SOA should not be a part of U.S. policy in Latin America, even if the changes are made.
“The United States is seen as an oppressive force by many Latin Americans,” said Ebels. “The School of the Americas is a primary source of this oppression. If the U.S. wishes to mend relations with Latin America, closing the SOA would be the first step.”
“I’m not saying the U.S. shouldn’t play any role, or that they should forget all their economic interests in Latin America,” said Mulder. “But it’s not our place to say that everyone else should have the same type of democracy we have, and it’s not our job to enforce that ... by violent means, especially.”
Abortion is a form of birth control, statistics wrong
Original Chimes Article Here
[This is not one of mine, but a rebuttal someone wrote to this piece of mine.]
When I read Swagman’s article in the Chimes last week in Crossroads I could not help but laugh at his ridiculous statistical claims. Where he gathered this information I’m not sure, he doesn’t say, but I gathered some information on my own so Calvin students can know the truth about these numbers. I called America’s Crisis Pregnancy Hotline and spoke with the Executive Director.
First Swagman claims that “80 percent (of abortions) deal with more complicating factors,” such as the woman’s health, incest or rape. In fact, the real number is even less than 2 percent, which is quite a difference. Swagman also claims that before abortion was legalized an estimated 1.2 million abortions were conducted annually. Actually there are about 1.2 million abortions performed annually now that it is legalized compared to an estimated 100,000 abortions prior to legalization.
But numbers and statistics are not the real issue here. The real issue is, do we value the sanctity of human life? Planned Parenthood gives the public arguments about government invasion of privacy and a woman’s right to choose to skirt the real question: Is the fetus a baby? Nobody in his or her right mind would kill a baby. I have heard many stories of women who were thoroughly convinced that they were simply getting rid of a “blob of tissue” only to be horrified at the sight of well formed body parts extracted from them.
In most cases, contrary to Swagman’s story, abortion is a form of birth control, a convenient way to end an unwanted pregnancy. I have personally been to Planned Parenthood, posing with a friend of mine as a pregnant couple, to do research.
The information we were given was clearly written to show that having a baby is very inconvenient to a woman’s social life and future plans, and suggested abortion as a “safe” alternative.
These brochures asked questions such as “Does having a child fit the lifestyle I want?” and “What’s in it for me?” If those aren’t questions of convenience, I don’t know what would be.
We need to open our eyes and see that abortion is a very selfish act, as well as a business for Planned Parenthood.
We need to be sympathetic to women who feel trapped into this decision and realize that it is not an easy position to be in. But we also need to see the abortion industry for what it is. One way to start is by getting our facts straight.
Update: In order to give this some context, I am reposting below the original article that this letter was in response to.
Original Chimes Article Here
Pro-choice is not pro-abortion
[ see also Human life begins at conception ]
It is with a tired attitude that most writers now approach the issue of abortion. After being a controversial topic for the past 30 years, what is left to say that has not been said already? You have heard all the arguments; if you are not already convinced of one position or another, who am I to think my rhetoric will win you over?
However, as protesters on both sides have recently been in the news once again, I would like to explain why I am pro-choice.
Perhaps the biggest fallacy of the pro-life movement is equating pro-choice with pro-abortion. I am not going to deny that abortion is sketchy moral territory. The fundamental principle behind pro-choice is not that abortion is okay, but that a woman should have legal authority over what happens to her own body.
The decision over whether or not a woman should carry a child to term is not a decision that should be made by society. It is a personal choice, and should be made by the woman in question. To ask a woman to go through nine months of pregnancy is no light request.
Planned Parenthood states strongly that, “There can be no more extreme invasion of privacy than requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. If government is permitted to compel a woman to bear a child, where will government stop? The concept is morally repugnant. It violates traditional American ideas of individual rights and freedoms.”
We cannot fight abortion by making it illegal. In every case where a society has outlawed abortions, the practice has continued illegally. In the United States, for example, before abortion was legalized, some estimate that illegal abortions were as high as 1.2 million annually. If done legally and correctly, abortion is 11 times safer then giving birth.
However, illegal abortions are much more dangerous. It is roughly estimated that in the two decades before legalized abortion, thousands of women died and ten of thousands were mutilated by botched illegal abortions.
Making abortion illegal is also discriminatory towards the poor. The rich can travel wherever is necessary to obtain a safe legal abortion, while the poor are forced to resort to back alley abortions.
If abortion cannot be combated by making it illegal, what can be done?
The first answer is to try to create an atmosphere in which abortion is unnecessary. Contraceptives should be provided to those who are sexually active and there should be an increased education effort to inform young people on how to use these contraceptives. However, since contraceptives can and do fail, this is only part of the solution.
The second answer is to try to make abortion less desirable. This is done by helping a mother provide for a child once it is born. Planned Parenthood cynically notes the irony of many on the religious right, who on the one hand fight against legalized abortion, while at the same time fight against health and nutrition programs for these children once they are born: “The anti-abortion groups seem to believe life begins at conception, but it ends at birth.”
Finally, much of pro-life rhetoric portrays a woman having an abortion as someone who simply does not want to be inconvenienced by having a baby. In fact, only 20 percent of abortions occur as a form of birth control.
The other 80 percent deal with more complicating factors. For example, in many cases, the woman’s health is at risk. Sometimes the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. In other cases the fetus is severely deformed.
The abortion debate is not quite as simple as slogans on both sides have made it out to be. We need to keep abortion legal so that women in these situations will have help.
We can not legislate abortion away -- it is here to stay whether it occurs legally or illegally. Abortion should, therefore, be kept safe and legal.
[This is not one of mine, but a rebuttal someone wrote to this piece of mine.]
When I read Swagman’s article in the Chimes last week in Crossroads I could not help but laugh at his ridiculous statistical claims. Where he gathered this information I’m not sure, he doesn’t say, but I gathered some information on my own so Calvin students can know the truth about these numbers. I called America’s Crisis Pregnancy Hotline and spoke with the Executive Director.
First Swagman claims that “80 percent (of abortions) deal with more complicating factors,” such as the woman’s health, incest or rape. In fact, the real number is even less than 2 percent, which is quite a difference. Swagman also claims that before abortion was legalized an estimated 1.2 million abortions were conducted annually. Actually there are about 1.2 million abortions performed annually now that it is legalized compared to an estimated 100,000 abortions prior to legalization.
But numbers and statistics are not the real issue here. The real issue is, do we value the sanctity of human life? Planned Parenthood gives the public arguments about government invasion of privacy and a woman’s right to choose to skirt the real question: Is the fetus a baby? Nobody in his or her right mind would kill a baby. I have heard many stories of women who were thoroughly convinced that they were simply getting rid of a “blob of tissue” only to be horrified at the sight of well formed body parts extracted from them.
In most cases, contrary to Swagman’s story, abortion is a form of birth control, a convenient way to end an unwanted pregnancy. I have personally been to Planned Parenthood, posing with a friend of mine as a pregnant couple, to do research.
The information we were given was clearly written to show that having a baby is very inconvenient to a woman’s social life and future plans, and suggested abortion as a “safe” alternative.
These brochures asked questions such as “Does having a child fit the lifestyle I want?” and “What’s in it for me?” If those aren’t questions of convenience, I don’t know what would be.
We need to open our eyes and see that abortion is a very selfish act, as well as a business for Planned Parenthood.
We need to be sympathetic to women who feel trapped into this decision and realize that it is not an easy position to be in. But we also need to see the abortion industry for what it is. One way to start is by getting our facts straight.
Update: In order to give this some context, I am reposting below the original article that this letter was in response to.
Original Chimes Article Here
Pro-choice is not pro-abortion
[ see also Human life begins at conception ]
It is with a tired attitude that most writers now approach the issue of abortion. After being a controversial topic for the past 30 years, what is left to say that has not been said already? You have heard all the arguments; if you are not already convinced of one position or another, who am I to think my rhetoric will win you over?
However, as protesters on both sides have recently been in the news once again, I would like to explain why I am pro-choice.
Perhaps the biggest fallacy of the pro-life movement is equating pro-choice with pro-abortion. I am not going to deny that abortion is sketchy moral territory. The fundamental principle behind pro-choice is not that abortion is okay, but that a woman should have legal authority over what happens to her own body.
The decision over whether or not a woman should carry a child to term is not a decision that should be made by society. It is a personal choice, and should be made by the woman in question. To ask a woman to go through nine months of pregnancy is no light request.
Planned Parenthood states strongly that, “There can be no more extreme invasion of privacy than requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. If government is permitted to compel a woman to bear a child, where will government stop? The concept is morally repugnant. It violates traditional American ideas of individual rights and freedoms.”
We cannot fight abortion by making it illegal. In every case where a society has outlawed abortions, the practice has continued illegally. In the United States, for example, before abortion was legalized, some estimate that illegal abortions were as high as 1.2 million annually. If done legally and correctly, abortion is 11 times safer then giving birth.
However, illegal abortions are much more dangerous. It is roughly estimated that in the two decades before legalized abortion, thousands of women died and ten of thousands were mutilated by botched illegal abortions.
Making abortion illegal is also discriminatory towards the poor. The rich can travel wherever is necessary to obtain a safe legal abortion, while the poor are forced to resort to back alley abortions.
If abortion cannot be combated by making it illegal, what can be done?
The first answer is to try to create an atmosphere in which abortion is unnecessary. Contraceptives should be provided to those who are sexually active and there should be an increased education effort to inform young people on how to use these contraceptives. However, since contraceptives can and do fail, this is only part of the solution.
The second answer is to try to make abortion less desirable. This is done by helping a mother provide for a child once it is born. Planned Parenthood cynically notes the irony of many on the religious right, who on the one hand fight against legalized abortion, while at the same time fight against health and nutrition programs for these children once they are born: “The anti-abortion groups seem to believe life begins at conception, but it ends at birth.”
Finally, much of pro-life rhetoric portrays a woman having an abortion as someone who simply does not want to be inconvenienced by having a baby. In fact, only 20 percent of abortions occur as a form of birth control.
The other 80 percent deal with more complicating factors. For example, in many cases, the woman’s health is at risk. Sometimes the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. In other cases the fetus is severely deformed.
The abortion debate is not quite as simple as slogans on both sides have made it out to be. We need to keep abortion legal so that women in these situations will have help.
We can not legislate abortion away -- it is here to stay whether it occurs legally or illegally. Abortion should, therefore, be kept safe and legal.
Spark Article on the Rehnquist Controversy
Yet another article that wasn't by me. I'm posting this here, however, because it provides context to some of my other articles, namely:
* William Rehnquist's Racist Record Revealed
* Chief Justice Rehnquist's questionable Past
* Chief Justice Poor Choice for Speaker
* Unpublished Grand Rapids Press editorial
Calvin College’s 2001 Commencement ceremony featured the largest graduating class in the college’s 125-year history. Nearly 920 graduates and 3,400 parents, family members and friends packed the Fieldhouse on May 19 to take part in the celebration.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, perhaps the most well-known person ever to speak at a Calvin graduation, addressed the graduates challenging them to look at life with the right perspective.
“Life is like "a great shopping mall. Instead of clothes, CDs or electronic goods, the items for sale are worldly success, appreciation of music, knowledge of history, a scratch golf game, a close relationship with your daughter, a fulfilling commitment to your church, but you can’t purchase these things with money. You purchase them with time,” said Rehnquist.
The Chief Justice didn’t comment on any larger issues of the day nor did he mention the controversy that had surrounded his invitation to speak at Calvin’s commencement.
Several weeks before commencement, the April 27 edition of the student newspaper Chimes sparked the debate in an article headlined “William Rehnquist’s racist record revealed.”
The article highlighted Rehnquist’s affirmation of Plessy v. Ferguson, a landmark 1896 Supreme Court case which gave consent to legalized segregation in the southern United States, as a young law clerk in the 1950s. The article also accused Rehnquist of using legal methods to dissuade black voters as director of the Republican Party’s “Operation Eagle Eye” program in Arizona in the late 1950s.
The article prompted much discussion on campus about the selection of the commencement speaker and drew local media attention, some of which focused on the issue of freedom of speech.
“The issue was never about freedom of speech,” said Randal Jelks, Calvin history professor. “I was never against him speaking here. I just think that a different venue would have been better.
Rehnquist’s record on race was not the only reason for the controversy, however. The fact that the Chief Justice has no ties to the college was another issue.
Traditionally, Calvin has invited faculty, alumni or former faculty members to give the commencement address.
The controversy at Calvin resulted in a forum where colleagues were able to voice their opinions and dialogue among each other and a letter signed by 300 Calvin faculty, staff and alumni stating their opposition to the Chief Justice’s appearance was run as an ad in the Grand Rapids Press on commencement day.
"The positive aspect to this 'debate' story is that Calvin deeply cares about our response to the big questions of our day and it neither squelches disagreement nor has these debates outside a faith-informed context," said Calvin President Gaylen Byker. "The community forum that we had on campus was a wonderful testament to the integration of faith and learning that we talk about so much on this campus."
* William Rehnquist's Racist Record Revealed
* Chief Justice Rehnquist's questionable Past
* Chief Justice Poor Choice for Speaker
* Unpublished Grand Rapids Press editorial
Calvin College’s 2001 Commencement ceremony featured the largest graduating class in the college’s 125-year history. Nearly 920 graduates and 3,400 parents, family members and friends packed the Fieldhouse on May 19 to take part in the celebration.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, perhaps the most well-known person ever to speak at a Calvin graduation, addressed the graduates challenging them to look at life with the right perspective.
“Life is like "a great shopping mall. Instead of clothes, CDs or electronic goods, the items for sale are worldly success, appreciation of music, knowledge of history, a scratch golf game, a close relationship with your daughter, a fulfilling commitment to your church, but you can’t purchase these things with money. You purchase them with time,” said Rehnquist.
The Chief Justice didn’t comment on any larger issues of the day nor did he mention the controversy that had surrounded his invitation to speak at Calvin’s commencement.
Several weeks before commencement, the April 27 edition of the student newspaper Chimes sparked the debate in an article headlined “William Rehnquist’s racist record revealed.”
The article highlighted Rehnquist’s affirmation of Plessy v. Ferguson, a landmark 1896 Supreme Court case which gave consent to legalized segregation in the southern United States, as a young law clerk in the 1950s. The article also accused Rehnquist of using legal methods to dissuade black voters as director of the Republican Party’s “Operation Eagle Eye” program in Arizona in the late 1950s.
The article prompted much discussion on campus about the selection of the commencement speaker and drew local media attention, some of which focused on the issue of freedom of speech.
“The issue was never about freedom of speech,” said Randal Jelks, Calvin history professor. “I was never against him speaking here. I just think that a different venue would have been better.
Rehnquist’s record on race was not the only reason for the controversy, however. The fact that the Chief Justice has no ties to the college was another issue.
Traditionally, Calvin has invited faculty, alumni or former faculty members to give the commencement address.
The controversy at Calvin resulted in a forum where colleagues were able to voice their opinions and dialogue among each other and a letter signed by 300 Calvin faculty, staff and alumni stating their opposition to the Chief Justice’s appearance was run as an ad in the Grand Rapids Press on commencement day.
"The positive aspect to this 'debate' story is that Calvin deeply cares about our response to the big questions of our day and it neither squelches disagreement nor has these debates outside a faith-informed context," said Calvin President Gaylen Byker. "The community forum that we had on campus was a wonderful testament to the integration of faith and learning that we talk about so much on this campus."
William Rehnquist's Racist Record Revealed
Original Chimes Article Here
“I realize that it is an unpopular and unhumanitarian position for which I have been excoriated by ‘liberal’ colleagues, but I think Plessy v Ferguson was right and should be reaffirmed.”
For those unfamiliar with American legal history, Plessy v Ferguson was a landmark case in the Supreme Court in 1896 that gave consent to legalized segregation in the southern United States. The aforementioned quote is taken from a memo written by a young law clerk named William Rehnquist to Justice Robert Jackson in the mid-1950’s. The memo went on to read: “it’s about time the Supreme Court faced the fact that the white people of the South don’t like the colored people.” While they are overtly racist, these statements become even more shocking when one realizes that they were written by the future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the keynote speaker at Calvin College’s 2001 commencement.
Some might say that Rehnquist’s comments simply show that his viewpoint was a product of its time – it wasn’t uncommon during the 1950’s to find white men in positions of power holding racist attitudes. Therefore, it would be undue and unfair to criticize a man based on things he said forty-five years ago; after all, his opinion on such matters might have changed entirely.
Others may say that Rehnquist’s beliefs are representative of a young man whose ignorance was a result of a lack of experience and education concerning matters of racial equality. Sadly, the past 50 years of Rehnquist’s professional career illustrate that his views may not have changed at all since the days of segregation.
During elections from 1958 to 1962, Rehnquist was the director for the Republican Party’s “Operation Eagle Eye” program in Arizona. Leading teams of lawyers to various polling stations in Arizona, members of Operation Eagle Eye (dubbed “ballot security”) attempted to use legal methods to dissuade black voters. Before the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Rehnquist and his colleagues were often quite successful at using legal methods to rig ballots, thereby creating an undemocratic election.
The house in which Rehnquist lived during this time had a deed stating that the home could not be sold to any person not of the Caucasian race. Upon moving in 1974 Rehnquist bought a home in Vermont that contained a covenant prohibiting the sale of the property to “any member of the Hebrew race.”
In 1980, Rehnquist made his thoughts on the case of United States v Sioux Nations known to the press: “We conquered them, why should we pay for their land?” [Editor's note: This quote is incorrect. See below for an explanation.]
Since becoming Chief Justice in 1986, Rehnquist has hired 82 aides, 81 of which were white. Not a single one of his aides over the past 15 years has been African-American, and when asked why this is the case, he answered: “wait for the demographics to change. There is no need for a wider net the system is working just fine.” [Editor's note: This quote is possibly incorrect. See below for an explanation.]
Perhaps the most recent incident that shows Rehnquist’s racial prejudice occurred in 1999 at the Fourth Circuit judicial conference. Rehnquist joined others at the conference in a rousing sing-along to “Dixie,” the national anthem from the defunct Confederate States of America. Today this musical relic from the Civil War has come to represent the brutality of slavery and Jim Crow laws to many people, not just minorities.
As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Rehnquist is called to be fair and impartial to all Americans. By singing “Dixie,” he displayed a partiality and insensitivity that is not becoming of a man who supposedly has the best interests of everyone in mind.
The issue of Rehnquist’s myopic racial convictions bears a special significance at Calvin because he has been selected to give the commencement address this year.
For a school that prides itself on multicultural acceptance and promotion, it seems odd that a man with such a sordidly racist past would be chosen to speak here. I won’t assume any motives for his selection, aside from the fact that he is a prominent figure in a respected public office. Perhaps the person(s) who selected him merely overlooked his offensive racial record. My purpose for writing this article is not to attack those at Calvin who selected Rehnquist. Rather, it is to make the Calvin community aware of his true colors (an appropriate cliché).
While I’m sure that Rehnquist’s commencement speech will not contain any of the hateful rhetoric of his past utterances, it remains a perfect opportunity for us as members of the Calvin community to let our views become known. Pass the word around, hold up a sign, or walk out of the auditorium in protest immediately before his speech. Whatever you do, make it known that the Calvin community does not tolerate those who are intolerant.
I no longer even remember what the source for this quote was, so I can't defend it.
We were not in the habit of citing our sources within the texts of our articles at Chimes--although arguably we should have been. But at any rate, we weren't, so the original source is not cited in the text, and is gone from my memory.
Josh knew what the original source was, because I handed over all my notes and sources to him when he said he wanted to write a rebuttal. (It was a nice friendly atmosphere over at the Chimes office, and we liberals and conservatives cooperated together.) And so he had access to the source, and apparently was of the opinion that the source "fabricated the quotation and misconstrued the tone of a letter ".
As I can no longer remember the original source, I'll have to just concede this point.
Speaking of Josh's rebuttal, in the interest of keeping this fair and balanced, I'll reprint his rebuttal in full below.
“I realize that it is an unpopular and unhumanitarian position for which I have been excoriated by ‘liberal’ colleagues, but I think Plessy v Ferguson was right and should be reaffirmed.”
For those unfamiliar with American legal history, Plessy v Ferguson was a landmark case in the Supreme Court in 1896 that gave consent to legalized segregation in the southern United States. The aforementioned quote is taken from a memo written by a young law clerk named William Rehnquist to Justice Robert Jackson in the mid-1950’s. The memo went on to read: “it’s about time the Supreme Court faced the fact that the white people of the South don’t like the colored people.” While they are overtly racist, these statements become even more shocking when one realizes that they were written by the future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the keynote speaker at Calvin College’s 2001 commencement.
Some might say that Rehnquist’s comments simply show that his viewpoint was a product of its time – it wasn’t uncommon during the 1950’s to find white men in positions of power holding racist attitudes. Therefore, it would be undue and unfair to criticize a man based on things he said forty-five years ago; after all, his opinion on such matters might have changed entirely.
Others may say that Rehnquist’s beliefs are representative of a young man whose ignorance was a result of a lack of experience and education concerning matters of racial equality. Sadly, the past 50 years of Rehnquist’s professional career illustrate that his views may not have changed at all since the days of segregation.
During elections from 1958 to 1962, Rehnquist was the director for the Republican Party’s “Operation Eagle Eye” program in Arizona. Leading teams of lawyers to various polling stations in Arizona, members of Operation Eagle Eye (dubbed “ballot security”) attempted to use legal methods to dissuade black voters. Before the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Rehnquist and his colleagues were often quite successful at using legal methods to rig ballots, thereby creating an undemocratic election.
The house in which Rehnquist lived during this time had a deed stating that the home could not be sold to any person not of the Caucasian race. Upon moving in 1974 Rehnquist bought a home in Vermont that contained a covenant prohibiting the sale of the property to “any member of the Hebrew race.”
In 1980, Rehnquist made his thoughts on the case of United States v Sioux Nations known to the press: “We conquered them, why should we pay for their land?” [Editor's note: This quote is incorrect. See below for an explanation.]
Since becoming Chief Justice in 1986, Rehnquist has hired 82 aides, 81 of which were white. Not a single one of his aides over the past 15 years has been African-American, and when asked why this is the case, he answered: “wait for the demographics to change. There is no need for a wider net the system is working just fine.” [Editor's note: This quote is possibly incorrect. See below for an explanation.]
Perhaps the most recent incident that shows Rehnquist’s racial prejudice occurred in 1999 at the Fourth Circuit judicial conference. Rehnquist joined others at the conference in a rousing sing-along to “Dixie,” the national anthem from the defunct Confederate States of America. Today this musical relic from the Civil War has come to represent the brutality of slavery and Jim Crow laws to many people, not just minorities.
As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Rehnquist is called to be fair and impartial to all Americans. By singing “Dixie,” he displayed a partiality and insensitivity that is not becoming of a man who supposedly has the best interests of everyone in mind.
The issue of Rehnquist’s myopic racial convictions bears a special significance at Calvin because he has been selected to give the commencement address this year.
For a school that prides itself on multicultural acceptance and promotion, it seems odd that a man with such a sordidly racist past would be chosen to speak here. I won’t assume any motives for his selection, aside from the fact that he is a prominent figure in a respected public office. Perhaps the person(s) who selected him merely overlooked his offensive racial record. My purpose for writing this article is not to attack those at Calvin who selected Rehnquist. Rather, it is to make the Calvin community aware of his true colors (an appropriate cliché).
While I’m sure that Rehnquist’s commencement speech will not contain any of the hateful rhetoric of his past utterances, it remains a perfect opportunity for us as members of the Calvin community to let our views become known. Pass the word around, hold up a sign, or walk out of the auditorium in protest immediately before his speech. Whatever you do, make it known that the Calvin community does not tolerate those who are intolerant.
Editor's Notes:
I didn't actually write this article. My good friend Bork wrote it. But the original idea was mine, and all of the research was mine, so I'm posting it here. (For a full account of the story behind this article, see here.)
The article contains an error, which was my fault and not Bork's. The error is the following quote:
In 1980, Rehnquist made his thoughts on the case of United States v Sioux Nations known to the press: “We conquered them, why should we pay for their land?”
I found the quote doing research on the Internet. The quote comes from this University of Arizona student newspaper, Arizona Daily Wildcat, February 2, 1995 (LINK HERE) which reads:
Colored balloons filled with helium and slips of paper that read, "Rehnquist re: Native Americans: We conquered them, why should we pay for their land? United States v. Sioux Nation (1980)," greeted Chief Justice William Rehnquist as he began his first day of teaching at the UA Law School.
I interpreted this as meaning that this was a direct quote from William Rehnquist. But it appears that it was nothing of the sort. (Or at the very least, I can't find this verified anywhere.)
The newspaper was apparently quoting what the protesters at Arizona put on the balloons, not what Rehnquist actually said. Presumably this was the protesters' summary of Rehnquist's attitude in the case of United States v. Sioux Nation (1980),
It was somewhat unfortunate that the Arizona Daily Wildcat put this in quotation marks as if it had been a direct quote. But the fault for not double checking this before going to print is all on me.
Bork was totally blameless in all of this. I put the quote in a separate document summarizing all my research, and just assured him it was all genuine documented stuff. His only fault was trusting me.
There's another potential problem with this piece, which Josh picked up in his rebuttal, which came the week after. (LINK HERE).
There's another potential problem with this piece, which Josh picked up in his rebuttal, which came the week after. (LINK HERE).
Third, 81 of Rehnquist’s 82 law clerks have been white; Rehnquist hasn’t hired a single black clerk. Bork’s article cites as evidence of Rehnquist’s continued racist tendencies a recent explanation for this disparity. The problem, however, is that Rehnquist said no such thing. Bork’s source fabricated the quotation and misconstrued the tone of a letter the Chief Justice wrote for all nine justices. If Rehnquist wrote for the entire court, are they all racist?
I no longer even remember what the source for this quote was, so I can't defend it.
We were not in the habit of citing our sources within the texts of our articles at Chimes--although arguably we should have been. But at any rate, we weren't, so the original source is not cited in the text, and is gone from my memory.
Josh knew what the original source was, because I handed over all my notes and sources to him when he said he wanted to write a rebuttal. (It was a nice friendly atmosphere over at the Chimes office, and we liberals and conservatives cooperated together.) And so he had access to the source, and apparently was of the opinion that the source "fabricated the quotation and misconstrued the tone of a letter ".
As I can no longer remember the original source, I'll have to just concede this point.
Speaking of Josh's rebuttal, in the interest of keeping this fair and balanced, I'll reprint his rebuttal in full below.
Continuing discussion on Rehnquist
'Racist' evidence inconclusive
'Racist' evidence inconclusive
(Original Chimes Article Here)
Bork argued last week that our Chief Justice – Calvin’s Commencement 2001 speaker – has exhibited racist tendencies (“William Rehnquist’s racist record revealed,” April 27). I disagree and wish to discuss his main pieces of evidence.
Bork opened with Rehnquist’s comment from 1954 on the Supreme Court’s momentous Brown v. Bd. of Ed. decision that the “separate but equal” doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson should be upheld. He does not suggest any motivation for Rehnquist’s position other than racism, but a closer look is warranted. The majority opinion in Plessy (1896) rejected the argument that “social prejudices may be overcome by legislation and that equal rights cannot be secured to the negro except by a forced commingling of the two races.” However, in 1954 the Court held that “separate but equal” is “inherently unequal” and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
My own view is that Plessy was wrong and Brown right. Although I disagree with Rehnquist’s analysis, I recognize that his position was grounded in a judicial philosophy to which he was/is committed and is not necessarily a manifestation of a racist attitude. Rehnquist adheres, more or less, to the doctrine of judicial restraint. Judicial restraint is something different than an originalist (or “strict constructionalist”) approach, though Rehnquist often sounds like an originalist. He does not see the court’s proper function as one of actively overturning legislation, even when he personally disagrees with what can happen when a tyrannical majority rears its ugly head. Besides, whatever Rehnquist said 50 years ago, there is no evidence of him trying to reestablish Plessy or undermine Brown.
Bork also notes allegations that Rehnquist was involved in attempts to prevent black voters from voting in Arizona in the 1950s. Again, we have to consider Rehnquist’s motivations for such actions, assuming they are true.
Picture a Republican Party activist being sent to challenge votes in a precinct that was mostly black and most likely to go for a Democrat. Is it more likely that he wanted to block votes because these people were black or because he knew they probably were going to vote for a Democrat? It seems that a Republican Party hack would care more about keeping Democrats out of office than impeding blacks. I think the same would apply to a black Democratic hack going to a predominantly white neighborhood to challenge voters that they knew to be mostly Republican. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not condoning his actions. But while they may make him a sleazy Republican, they don’t make him a racist.
Third, 81 of Rehnquist’s 82 law clerks have been white; Rehnquist hasn’t hired a single black clerk. Bork’s article cites as evidence of Rehnquist’s continued racist tendencies a recent explanation for this disparity. The problem, however, is that Rehnquist said no such thing. Bork’s source fabricated the quotation and misconstrued the tone of a letter the Chief Justice wrote for all nine justices. If Rehnquist wrote for the entire court, are they all racist?
Finally, Bork fills the rest of his column with what I see as irrelevant information. Rehnquist is alleged to have owned houses with deeds prohibiting the sale of the property to blacks or Jews. So what? These clauses are a common, though unfortunate, historical phenomenon. For example, Louisiana had a law making it a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and/or jailtime, for a landlord to allow blacks and whites to live in the same building. The fact that Rehnquist lived under a similar system does not implicate him in having supported it.
We also read that Rehnquist recently displayed “partiality and insensitivity” toward blacks by joining in a “rousing sing-along to ‘Dixie’” at a conference. “Dixie” is perhaps the quintessential representation of southern culture and heritage, and to the best of my knowledge not an overtly racist tune.
Given all of the above, I am not convinced that Bork has established “Rehnquist’s racist record.” However, this does not mean that I think that inviting the Chief Justice to speak at commencement was the best idea. If Calvin indeed has a tradition of commencement speakers who are connected with the institution, it should have either stuck with the tradition or announced its reasons for changing. As far as I’m concerned, that doesn’t change too much for this year. Rehnquist is coming, and he deserves respect. But the college should take this opportunity to more clearly explain (or establish) its criteria in choosing a speaker.
While I do not agree with all of Rehnquist’s past actions and opinions, it is presumptuous and unfair to assume a racial motivation behind them. Therefore I take issue with Bork’s call to arms, in which he asks that students exercise a social conscience by protesting Rehnquist’s commencement speech. Given the careless assumptions on which his argument is based, is he justified in asking the student body to join in his act of disrespect? If Bork is so anxious to demonstrate Calvin’s racial tolerance, he should leave Rehnquist alone and find a target more deserving of such criticism.
Bork argued last week that our Chief Justice – Calvin’s Commencement 2001 speaker – has exhibited racist tendencies (“William Rehnquist’s racist record revealed,” April 27). I disagree and wish to discuss his main pieces of evidence.
Bork opened with Rehnquist’s comment from 1954 on the Supreme Court’s momentous Brown v. Bd. of Ed. decision that the “separate but equal” doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson should be upheld. He does not suggest any motivation for Rehnquist’s position other than racism, but a closer look is warranted. The majority opinion in Plessy (1896) rejected the argument that “social prejudices may be overcome by legislation and that equal rights cannot be secured to the negro except by a forced commingling of the two races.” However, in 1954 the Court held that “separate but equal” is “inherently unequal” and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
My own view is that Plessy was wrong and Brown right. Although I disagree with Rehnquist’s analysis, I recognize that his position was grounded in a judicial philosophy to which he was/is committed and is not necessarily a manifestation of a racist attitude. Rehnquist adheres, more or less, to the doctrine of judicial restraint. Judicial restraint is something different than an originalist (or “strict constructionalist”) approach, though Rehnquist often sounds like an originalist. He does not see the court’s proper function as one of actively overturning legislation, even when he personally disagrees with what can happen when a tyrannical majority rears its ugly head. Besides, whatever Rehnquist said 50 years ago, there is no evidence of him trying to reestablish Plessy or undermine Brown.
Bork also notes allegations that Rehnquist was involved in attempts to prevent black voters from voting in Arizona in the 1950s. Again, we have to consider Rehnquist’s motivations for such actions, assuming they are true.
Picture a Republican Party activist being sent to challenge votes in a precinct that was mostly black and most likely to go for a Democrat. Is it more likely that he wanted to block votes because these people were black or because he knew they probably were going to vote for a Democrat? It seems that a Republican Party hack would care more about keeping Democrats out of office than impeding blacks. I think the same would apply to a black Democratic hack going to a predominantly white neighborhood to challenge voters that they knew to be mostly Republican. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not condoning his actions. But while they may make him a sleazy Republican, they don’t make him a racist.
Third, 81 of Rehnquist’s 82 law clerks have been white; Rehnquist hasn’t hired a single black clerk. Bork’s article cites as evidence of Rehnquist’s continued racist tendencies a recent explanation for this disparity. The problem, however, is that Rehnquist said no such thing. Bork’s source fabricated the quotation and misconstrued the tone of a letter the Chief Justice wrote for all nine justices. If Rehnquist wrote for the entire court, are they all racist?
Finally, Bork fills the rest of his column with what I see as irrelevant information. Rehnquist is alleged to have owned houses with deeds prohibiting the sale of the property to blacks or Jews. So what? These clauses are a common, though unfortunate, historical phenomenon. For example, Louisiana had a law making it a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and/or jailtime, for a landlord to allow blacks and whites to live in the same building. The fact that Rehnquist lived under a similar system does not implicate him in having supported it.
We also read that Rehnquist recently displayed “partiality and insensitivity” toward blacks by joining in a “rousing sing-along to ‘Dixie’” at a conference. “Dixie” is perhaps the quintessential representation of southern culture and heritage, and to the best of my knowledge not an overtly racist tune.
Given all of the above, I am not convinced that Bork has established “Rehnquist’s racist record.” However, this does not mean that I think that inviting the Chief Justice to speak at commencement was the best idea. If Calvin indeed has a tradition of commencement speakers who are connected with the institution, it should have either stuck with the tradition or announced its reasons for changing. As far as I’m concerned, that doesn’t change too much for this year. Rehnquist is coming, and he deserves respect. But the college should take this opportunity to more clearly explain (or establish) its criteria in choosing a speaker.
While I do not agree with all of Rehnquist’s past actions and opinions, it is presumptuous and unfair to assume a racial motivation behind them. Therefore I take issue with Bork’s call to arms, in which he asks that students exercise a social conscience by protesting Rehnquist’s commencement speech. Given the careless assumptions on which his argument is based, is he justified in asking the student body to join in his act of disrespect? If Bork is so anxious to demonstrate Calvin’s racial tolerance, he should leave Rehnquist alone and find a target more deserving of such criticism.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Daniel Dik Memoirs
[Introduction: a few years ago my grandfather wrote up what he referred to as his memoirs, a collection of memories of his life from 1921 to 1966. (He didn't think it was necessary to write anything past 1966 because after that point his children could remember events as well as he could.)
"I think," he told me, "this is something everyone should do for their children and grandchildren."
And I couldn't agree more. I can't even begin to imagine how much richer my family history would be if all of my great grandparents (who I never met) or other grandparents had done this. Of all the material gifts he had given me over years, this is by far the most valuable. (HINT HINT HINT any family reading this).
To the best of my knowledge, no electronic copy of this existed, so I spent the better part of today just re-typing it. (If it turns out an electronic copy of this does exist somewhere, probably best just not to tell me at this point.)
Why go through all that trouble?
1). As a blog post, this is a much better tribute to him than any trite piece I would have written up.
2). Despite the fact that Grandpa photocopied and distributed lots of copies of this, I worry that as the years roll on this might be the kind of thing that would get lost beneath stacks of other old papers. I wanted to have a copy on-line that could be easily referenced and locatable at all times, and also would be permanently available. (That is in the sense anything on-line is permanent-- as long as it fits blogger.com's business model to host this blog for free on their servers.)
3). Of the 20 people that read this blog, about half of them are relatives anyway, and I thought maybe it might be useful for them people to have an electronic copy of this as well.
I have resisted the temptation to act as editor on this Memoir, and just typed it up exactly as he wrote it despite the fact that some parts of it probably could have used an editorial hand (lack of clear transitions in places, some repetitions, some parts which are out of chronological order, inconsistent spelling of some of the names, et cetera). My theory is that now that this document is electronic, anyone who wants to can edit it to their satisfaction for whatever purpose they want.
The only thing I fixed were the occasional typos I came across. And, as I sat in front of this computer screen typing all day, I worry that I probably inserted just as many of my own typos, if not more. If you see any obvious ones let me know and I'll just go ahead and correct them.]
Memories 1921-1966
Daniel Dik, born on October 28, 1921
My parents were Albert and Hattie Dik. The address was 1129 Hermitage St., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The doctor was Dr. Lieffers. I was born in the upper front bedroom. This was the common practice at that time. I was the second of five children that lived. Mother and Dad’s first baby died at five days of a heart condition known as baby blue, not getting enough blood.
Thressa was the oldest, then myself, next Gladys, Ralph and Ruth. The first baby was also named Daniel. He is buried in the Fulton St. cemetery.
The area where we lived was called the brick yards because at one time many brick factories were on the east side of town. As we would not have a car for many years to come this was a very convenient area to live in. The church, Dennis Ave. C.R.C., the Baldwin St. Christian school, the farmer’s market, the meat market, and the street cars on both Fulton and Lake Drive were within two blocks.
At first my mother had an old cast iron stove that burned coal. Later she had a new Garland gas stove. We also had an ice chest with a drain pain underneath hidden by a wood flap door. When we wanted ice we put the ice card in the front window that indicated 25, 50, 75 or 100 pounds of ice. The ice man would split the ice with his ice pick and with his ice tongs carry the ice over his shoulder into our house. The bread man, the milk man, and the huckster that delivered fresh fruits and vegetables all came with their horse drawn wagons or Model-T trucks.
We had a coal furnace for heat and a coal bin that held five tons of coal. There was another room where all the canning jars and supplies were kept. Also in the fall of the year about eight bushels of potatoes were kept to tide us over the winter. On Saturdays we each received two cents allowance to spend or save as we saw fit. We often talked to Bronkemas store to buy candy.
Mother and Dad were very devoted, caring, loving parents. They taught us by their example of honesty and to always try to do the right thing. Sometimes the neighbors, Mrs. Boggard, Mrs. Imans or Mrs. Weber would stop in and visit with mother. About once a week Grandpa Goudberg would walk over from Prospect St. N.E. to have a cookie and tea with Mother. Mother and Aunt Jeanette also would walk over to each others houses to visit. Sometimes they would take along some of the kids. Uncle John would often be in his barn tinkering with his old model 1922 Model-T Ford. He was very kind and patient with me. He had a garden and in the fall he dug a hole about three feet deep and buried carrots and other vegetables to keep for use in the winter. He also gave me a little wrench that I had for many years. He may have foreseen the time when I would be an auto mechanic. Uncle John’s Model-t had only one door in the middle of the center. To operate the windows a strap had to be pulled. It had a lilte flower vase mounted inside.
Dad was a cabinet maker. Every morning he made his lunch and then walked to Fulton St. and boarded the street car to the GRAND RAPIDS STORE EQUIPMENT CO. where he worked. In the evening we kids walked to meet the street car and walked home with him. On arriving home Dad would greet Mother with a kiss and say “I enjoyed my work today.”
Dad was always active in church work, men’s society, consistory, visiting the sick, and making family visits.
He made notes of all the sermons and made scrap books of all the ministers. In my mind I can still see Dad sitting at the desk that he had made, studying or writing. The Banner in English and the De Wachter in Dutch both Christian Reformed magazines, kept Dad informed of the current events in the church.
On Sunday afternoon Dad and one or two of us would walk over to Aunt Agatha and Uncle Pete to visit Dad’s mother who had a room in the upstairs. Grandma Dik was very deaf and for her to hear us she had a collapsible horn she put in her ear and we would talk in it.
The farmer’s market on Fulton St. was always interesting. I saw some peple driven to the market by their chauffeur, and two ladies often came in their electric car which was steered by a tiller.
Our house first had a wood porch. In about the mid twenties we got a brick porch. Ralph fell off the porch one time and landed on his head, but neither his head nor the cement seemed to suffer permanent damage. About this time we also had a full modern bathroom built upstairs. Before that we kids took a bath in a round galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor every Saturday.
We had a RCA Victor phonograph record player that we had to wind up with a handle to play. On Sunday morning Dad would get up early and play records. He would sing in Dutch, “Why do you sleep so long”. At a later time I took the record player apart to see how it worked. I am sorry to say that was the end of the record player.
One time I stayed at Uncle Dirk’s house on Hall St. It was winter and very cold. Cousins Pete and Rudy and I slept on the glass enclosed front porch. They thought that the cold air killed germs and that it was healthy to sleep in the cold.
Around 1928 election time I remember kids singing “Hoover, Hoover, he’s our man, he put Smith in the garbage can.” Al Smith was the Democrat running for president at that time. Of course we were Republicans.
We sometimes played checkers or Chinese checkers, ate popcorn and took walks with Dad. Sometimes we sang as Mother played the old pump organ.
When we were kids we not only shared a room, we shared a bed. The mattress had a low area in the center so I put 2 two by fours under the mattress to raise the center so that my brother Ralph stayed on his side of the bed. He now says that he got my elbow in his ribs if he drifted towards my side.
Mother’s sister Anna’s husband was Ralph Roelefson. One day he took us in his 1926 Chevrolet to Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan. He drove very fast and said we are going a mile a minute. “Wow!” I had never gone that fast.
In about 1928 it was decided tonsils were not needed and may in fact cause colds and sore throats. So Uncle John was recruited to take Theresa, Gladys, and myself in this Model-T downtown to Dr. Lieffers office to have them removed. We each received a toy to aid in the healing process. I think mine was a toy airship on a string. We could wind it up and it would fly around.
Saturday was catechism class. Our parents made sure we knew the answers. It was also my job to polish all the shoes on Saturday to be ready for church.
There was one blind old Negro in the area called “Old Blind Ed.” We could hear the tapping of his white cane as he shuffled along. He was a friendly person and accepted by all. As children in the neighborhood we had few toys so we played cops and robbers, hide and seek, tag catch and rode our bikes and wagons.
As a small lad I could build such tall towers with my blocks and Gladys would crawl over and knock them down.
Once Grandpa Goudberg gave me two discarded old pocket watches. One was a railroad watch and the other was a small watch with a cover. I put this small watch and other treasures in a court jar and buried it just like the pirates used to do in the stories I read. I buried this between the houses on Hermitage. They may still be there because I do not recall ever digging them up. There were two attics in our house. One was above the kitchen and the other was above the rest of the house. I made the top trim board of the window removable so I could hide small items.
In 1924 Rev. Herman Hoeksema left the C.R.C. over the issue called God’s common grace. He formed the Protestant Reformed Church. This split many families. I remember sneaking out of bed and sitting on the top step listening to the heated discussion of Dad and Uncle John.
In the twenties and until 1935 street cars ran to John Ball Park on the west and Ramona Park on the east. John Ball Park with the zoo, ponds, and the statue of John Ball and the children was a great place to go for picnics. Ramona park with the thrill rides, fun house and the carnival atmosphere was considered worldly, but the coal fired steamer on Reed’s Lake with it’s double deck was permissible.
In the days before sulfa and penicillin many disease could be life threatening so the health department would nail up a sing near the front door warning that some one with a contagious disease was inside.
BALDWIN STREET CHRISTIAN SCHOOL [also known as the old Dutch prison]
This school was only about one and a half blocks from our house. This was a two story wood structure. Most of the children walked home for lunch because most mothers did not work at that time. I remember Mr. Herrema as a rather stern principle. I was not a good student. I missed out on much of the teaching because of my tendency to daydream in class. One of the teachers Miss Oosterhoff gave me A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Lewis Stevenson for good work in grade 2-2. One other teacher always started the afternoon with a good novel. She may have instilled in me a love for reading.
I loved to read. I remember stories by James Oliver Curwood, about the Canadian Royal Police and other adventure stories of the north country. Richard Haliburton was another one of my favorite authors. When in class I would dream of sailing the ocean on a raft or exploring China or some other far off place.
My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
NOT IN VAIN by Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
March 8, 1937 Vern Ouendag and I took a walk to Reeds Lake and the East G.R. country gold course.
March 9, 1937 Monday it was my first day that I wore long pants to school. Before that I had worn knickers which were pants that ended with an elastic cuff just below the knee.
April 2 Fred and I walked to south high school to see pictures and we walked a couple of girls home. WOW! Big stuff, long pants and walking a couple of girls home. I got home at eleven thirty.
DEPRESSION YEARS
Most of the twenties were good years but starting in 1929 and lasting into 1937 the economy hit bottom. This was a WORLD DEPRESSION. Herbert Hoover was president at the time. In 1932 Franklin Roosevelt was elected. He started many programs to aid the economy, some of them were the NEW DEAL, THR NATIONAL RECOVERY ACT (NRA), WPA and the CCC. The CCC’s were for young men that could not find a job and had no place to go. Here they had work to do planting trees, making forest trails, and many other worth while jobs to keep them occupied.
In 1929 the government had to close the banks because the people were making a run on the banks to get their money. This caused a panic. I was about nine years old and was on the corner of Diamond and Fulton St., near the bank. There was a big crowd in front of the bank. The people were milling around and one couple went berserk. The police paddy wagon came and took them away. They were unemployed and all their money was in this bank.
Many people lost their homes because they could not pay their property tax. There were also bread lines to fee the poor at the fire stations relief food was available.
Some men also rode the rails, climbing on top or into the freight cars and going west or wherever the train would take them. They were looking for jobs, food or just to be doing something.
Once in a while one of these men would come to our house asking for a handout. Mother would make some food and they sat on the back steps to eat it.
Dad was unemployed much of the early years of the depression. He baked bread in the oven and I would deliver it with my wagon. With my wagon I also brought the ashes from our furnace to the dump.
They did not call dumps land fills at that time. The dump was north of Lyon St. at the end of Arthur St.
I also sold the LIBERTY MAGAZINE, THE SATURDAY POST and delivered the GRAND RAPIDS PRESS for years. The press was twelve cents a week. The profit was two cents. I made a wood box that would hold two gallons of milk and I rode out to Maryland Farms at Maryland and Michigan St. twice a week for milk.
At one time when things had been better, Dad had given us piggy banks made of cast iron that looked like a colonial house. Well the time came when Dad called us together and we opened the banks and shared the money because the money was needed. We children must have understood because I don’t remember any tears.
There was available some government relief but Dad was too proud to take this. Mother’s brother was Rev. William Goudberg and he was a missionary to the Indians in New Mexico at Tohatchi. Uncle Will had a steady job. He must’ve trusted Dad because Dad borrowed money from him. Every once in a while a registered letter came from Uncle Will. I still have some of those envelops stamped REGISTERED MAIL. Dad paid up with interest this loan in the early 40s.
In 1932 the Civic Auditorium was started and later in around 1935 to 1937 the street car rails were taken up. These were WPA jobs and provided jobs for the unemployed.
Once Mother and her sister Aunt Jeanette walked down town to shop. When Mother arrived home she discovered that she had lost one dollar. Mother felt very bad about that. A dollar was a lot of money.
Dad’s older brother Uncle Pete, his wife Aunt Jean and daughter Alice lived on Eastern just north of Sherman in apartment over a little store. Uncle Pete became discouraged with conditions in America, so on April 20, 1938 we said goodbye to them and he and his family moved back to Holland. This was a very bad move, because Europe in a few years would be over run by Hitler and his forces. The Germans were very suspicious of people that had lived in America. Dad did get some letters from them, but they had been opened and censored by the Nazis. After the war Dad found out that Uncle Pete’s wife had died during the war years in a place where they had been detained.
THE CHURCH
Dennis Ave. C.R.C. was one block from our house with the parsonage on the corner. This church was built in 1893. The nearness of the church was very convenient for our family because much of our life was involved with the church. There were three services each Sunday, the Dutch service was in the afternoon. There also was Sunday school, catechism, men’s society, ladies aid and many other activities.
I was baptized by the Rev. P. Jonker on Nov. 11, 1921. The baptism certificate that I still have is printed in the Dutch language.
Some early memories are of the Rev. Rikker, Heeres, Weidenaar, and Ostendorp. During the week we had to study our catechism and our parents quizzed us before we went to class on Saturday morning, and we had better know the answers to the questions.
On Sunday mornings some of the men that smoked on the way to church would lay their cigars on the edge of the cement steps and retrieve them after the service.
In 1928 Rev. Herre’s daughter Barbara became ill and died. In 1932 at the age of just 56, Rev. Heeres also became ill and died. This was a very sad time for the church. There were many people at the funeral service at the church and many had to stand outside and listen with the aid of big speakers that were put outside. To me as I sat on the front steps of our house it seemed as if the funeral procession was a mile long.
I have a copy of Fifty Years of Blessings celebrating the first fifty years of Dennis Ave. C.R.C. 1893-1943. I have taken the liberty to use some of the text.
“In 1921 it was decided that four services were to be held each LORD’S DAY, two in the Dutch language and two in the English. Slowly the language problems were adjusted to fit the needs of the youth. In 1923 a lot was purchased in the Belmont addition by the mission society for a small mission chapel.”
Sister Theresa used to teach there. It was then known as the Sunshine Gospel Hall and the cost was $250.00. Over the years this small beginning was blessed and is now called the SUNSHINE MINISTRIES and is the largest church in the C.R.C.
More quotes from Fifty Years of Blessings:
“For the afternoon service the language of the Fatherland will be used.”
“In much of this period prosperity was abundant. In 1929 work was plentiful and wages were high. The Lord ruled that a depression was needed for this land of ours, so instead of years of plenty, years of scarcity followed.”
“In 1943 there were 56 men of the church in military service.”
And there were more to come including brother Ralph. In paging through this booklet it seems to me that church life played a far greater part of people’s life then than it does now.
The church and our parents warned us against worldly amusements. Card playing, dancing and movies were considered sins that a Christian should refrain from.
COMMUNICATIONS
Letters were the main means of personal communication, stamps were two or three cents and then there was the penny post car. There was also the telegram by Western Union. When Dad’s sister in California died he was notified by telegram.
Newspapers were the way we got the news before the days of radio. If a very special news event occurred the papers would rush out an EXTRA, EXTRA edition and newsboys would hawk, “Extra extra, read all about it.”
When I was about twelve there was a used radio for sale in the window of a store on Fulton St. The sing said eight dollars, or one dollar a week less until sold. When the price was down to three dollars I bought it. What a thrill to have. We could get the news and listen to radio programs like “The Lone Ranger” or “Amos ‘n Andy”. A few years later sister Theresa and I went in together and bought a new radio with push buttons.
TEEN YEARS 1933 TO ABOUT 1939
Some of my friends in those years were Fred Frieswyk, Pete Evertse, Dennis Lachniet, George Scherphorn and later Abe Marcusse and Don Overbeek.
In the winter time after I delivered the press and did what other things I had to do, we could ice skate at Cherry Park, Wilcox Park or Reeds Lake. We used our sleds on any hill anywhere from Johnson Park to Ravenswood. In summer we swam at Wilcox Park where I learned to swim. Later at Soft Water Lake with its high diving tower and swing we would take our bikes there. It was five or six miles.
On the 4th of July there were always fire works over Reeds Lake. One time the family rented a row boat to spend sometime on the water and then tie up to the dock to watch the fire works. At dark the fire works started and one came down, still burning and landed right in our boat. In the confusion we all jumped out of the boat, water on one side, dock on the other side. It was dark and we tried to find each other and one was missing. What a terrible worry …. Finally we found the lost one. I think it was Ralph that in the panic jumped to the dock and then ran to shore.
We built a raft with 30 gallon barrels on Reeds Lake near a place called Manhatten, on the north side of the lake. We brought all the material there on our bikes. After a few weeks the raft was missing, claimed no doubt by someone living on the lake.
Sunday afternoon when most people were taking their nap we explored, walked, or hitchhiked over a wide area from Lansing to Grand Haven. We climbed water towers and new oil wells that were being put west of town along the Grand River. We explored the gypsum mines and the area west of John Ball Park, also the railroad repair workshops and turn around west of town.
As I look through my old photo album of the pictures taken in those years, I am struck that in all these pictures taken of the things we did on our Sunday walks we had on our Sunday suits, ties and dressed for church clothes on. Our parents would have preferred that we stay at home and read the Banner, but they must have thought that if we were dressed in our Sunday best we would not get into trouble. Little did they know but ignorance is bliss and we never did anything that was bad. We dared each other to swim in Reeds Lake on the last day of March when there was still ice on the shore line. It was a very brief and cold skinny swim. We hitch hiked east of town and the man was going to Lansing so we went along, but we had a hard time getting a ride back. I arrived back to 1129 Hermitage just as Dad and the family were coming down the porch steps on the way to church. To put it mildly Dad was not amused.
During these years and for years after, I collected postage stamps. Even in the early years I would go to the post office and buy a mint block of new stamps with my meager earnings. We also traded duplicate stamps with other collectors. At one time or another I also collect cigar brands, match book covers and coins. My brother Ralph also collected stamps and first day covers.
DAVIS TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
This was the school where I spent my high school years. The school was located down town on Bostwick St. just north of Fountain St. It was a very good school where a person could receive all the credits for college and at the same time learn a trade as auto shop, drafting, machine shop, printing, pattern making, electrical, commercial art, furniture design and other skills. This was achieved by having three hours of shop a day, and the other classes were 45 high school minutes, very frew study halls, and much home work.
At about this time I woke up and realized that I had a future to be concerned about. Cars had always fascinated me so I took auto mechanics with Mr. Ida and Mr. Flower both very capable teachers.
I did much better in high school—the fresh start was good for me and I did get good grades. I have good memories of high school although my social life was nil. One reason was that all the years I was in high school I had to hurry home to deliver the Press. Another reason was that I was sort of a wall flower and many students came from a different background.
Fred and I usually rode our bikes to school, rain or shine. There were no school buses in those days. Davis Tech close its doors in 1943, a war casualty.
My first date with a member of the fairer sex may well have been Virginia Jones. I took her on a hay ride that our church young people organized.
AIRPLANES AND THE OLD AIRPORT AT EASTERN AVE. AND 36TH ST.
On of my classmates from high school had a brother that was a pilot. He arranged for me to get a ride in an open two seat bi-wing plane. The pilot sat in the back cock-pit and I sat in the front. What a thrill! I also did get to ride in some other airplanes. I saw the big amphibious airplane come in from Detroit on its way to Milwaukee and of course the Ford tri-motor planes. Brother Ralph and his wife Celia also left from this airport for mission work in Africa in 1959.
The airport wanted to extend the east west runway longer for larger planes. The owner of the house on Eastern Ave. near the east end of the runway had a large tree that would interfere with the runway. He did not wan this runway so close to his house. He and the airport authority fought over this for a couple of years and could not reach a settlement. On a very dark stormy windy night with much thunder and rain some one sawed that large tree down. The tree just laid there for a few years. So the airport won and I never heard that anyone was ever caught or arrested for this.
After high school my first full time job was at McInerney Spring and Wire Co. I worked clipping border wire to car seat springs. I worked the night shift and the time just dragged. Five minutes seemed like an hour. That experience convinced me not to take a monotonous factory job again. Next job was with burkholder Chevrolet used car repair, then on to Reingelberg Garage. I did a lot of good work there while Frank and his friends were in the basement playing cars. I thought I was indispensible so whne I told Frank that Jim Miller had offered me a job I thought he would offer me a big pay increase. Instead he just OK. So I learned another lesson.
CARS AND RELATED EVENTS
In June of 1940 I bought my first car, a 1924 Model-T ford coupe. It was black and in the back it had a lid over a storage space. We put a small mattress in there and two people could just sit in there, but could not see much to the front. I paid eight dollars, sales tax was twenty seven cents. License plate and title cost, two dollars and thirty cents. Fred wanted part ownership of this car so I sold him part ownership for five dollars. We had fun riding around and if we were short of money we could buy a gallon of gas for ten cents. These cars did not have a shift lever. There were three pedals, one for the brake, one for reverse and the other that when pushed won was low and out was high gear. One day we went to Grand Haven with this car and the following day going up Hall St. hill by the cemetery there was a loud knock and the engine stopped. It had a broken crankshaft.
On July 16, 1940 I bought a 1929 Chevrolet and received three dollars trade in for the Model-T. I paid $35 for the Chevy. The mileage was 65,057. This was a much better car and gave good service. It was good for the family also have transportation. It was about this time that times were getting better. Dad was working full time. Dad rented a cottage at Bostwick Lake. While there Aunt Anna Goudberg and Grandpa and Grandma Goudberg visited us. Aunt Anna (Hertel) Goudberg was visiting us from New Mexico.
I think the year before in 1939 we rented a cottage on Green Lake. As I recall Theresa’s friend, Genevieve drove us out to Green Lake.
In March of 1941 I bought a 1932 Chrysler. This car had a split front windshield that either side could be opened out for ventilation. We didn’t even dream of a car with air conditioning in those days.
At about this time Fred, Pete and I did some roller skating. There was a place on South Division St. that had a large hall for skating. This place we called Zindoes which was the name of the owner. He kept strict discipline and it was a fun place to meet girls. We met some girls from Walker station area and for a while hung out around there.
I did not keep this car long and now I was working for Jim Miller at Universal Ford. I now had a 1937 Chevrolet. This was a good dependable car. With this car we made many trips.
On a holiday weekend Fred, Pete and I went to Chicago to see all the attractions. We went to the top of the Tribune Tower (at that time the tallest building) Navy Pier, Merchandise Mart, China Town and Museums. We rode the elevated train and took many pictures of Chicago at night. On the outer drive the police stopped us. They had noticed our out of town plate and said they had to arrest us for speeding and as it was a holiday weekend the judge would not be in until Monday so they would have to hold us in jail over the weekend. Actually they were trying to bribe us into paying them. We were too dumb to know it at the time. We were just small town boys. We really were scared and didn’t know what to do. After a while the police officer gave up and with a look of disgust went to his car, slammed the door and took off.
For lodging we had blankets and slept on the beach.
Note to my grandchildren-Do not try this! Times have changed in the last sixty years and not for the better. Prowling around big cities at night is VERY dangerous!
I had a 1935 Ford for a short time that I fixed all up and sold to Russ Overbeek for ninety-five dollars. On March 5, 1942 I bought a 1936 Ford. This was the car that Fred and I went west in and I kept it all through my three and a half years in the air force. I taught sister Gladys and brother Ralph to drive. I must have been a poor teacher because both of them hit curbs and blew out tires while learning. Tires were very hard to get at the time as there was a war going on, so we would put in a boot and patch the tube. I also taught Dad to drive which was not an easy task. Remember cars did not have automatic transmissions or hydraulic brakes at that time.
I don’t know when the custom started but in the late thirties and early forties, especially on Saturday and Sunday nights after church, young ladies would walk down Eastern Ave, Grandville Ave. or Leonard St. and young men in their cars would pull up along side and try to engage the girls in conversation and offer them a ride. At the time it seemed so harmless and like good fun. Many young people met their future mates in this way. This is how our friend Pete Evertse met his future wife Theresa. One evening when we met three girls walking down Leonard St. we were in Fred’s Model-A Ford…I don’t remember of hearing of any bad experiences but I sure would not recommend this today. Second notice to grand kids, don’t even think about getting in a car with strangers.
December 7, 1941 We heard over the radio that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor!
That event was to change everything all over the world. Before Pearl Harbor the U.S. was building up to aid the Allies and England. We did not know if we could stay out of the conflict. Now the U.S. and Canada declared all out war on both Japan and Germany.
By the time the war was over 15 million Americans had served in the armed forces. Every home that had a member in the armed forces displayed a blue star emblem in the front window for each member in the service. Some homes had 3 or 4 stars in the window.
Many young men were enlisting in the service and many men from age 20 to 36 were drafted.
Fred and I wanted to enlist in the service and we knew that eventually we would be drafted if we did not enlist. We thought that we might just have time yet to go on a trip to see the West. Gas was not rationed and once we were in the service, we might never live through the war.
July 6, 1942 OUR GREAT ADVENTURE! OUR TRIP TO THE WEST July 6—Sept. 10
Monday morning two excited young men left their homes, jobs and families to see what awaited us I the west country. We had never been farther from home before than Chicago. Our mothers had made lunches for the first day. The spare tire plus another spare were mounted on a bracket on the back of the trunk. Tires would be our major problem on the trip, but we had tires, irons and repair kits to patch the tubes with us.
On the first day we stopped in Marshall Michigan to see Ann Timmer, a chiropractor and Dr. Toy a naturopath chiropractor who dealt with Chinese herbs. They had a clinic. They treated me for colds. He had a big machine with many dials and knobs. He would place one object of food on a brass plate attached to an electrode and the other electrode in your hand and supposedly he could tell if the object or food on the brass plate was good for you or not. He was very sincere, but now I can’t imagine how he could have believed in what he did. He later mover to California. Ann Timmer had been a friend and classmate of sister Thressa.
On to Chicago and up the outer drive to downtown. We spent the night on what was called Northerly beach. Early Tuesday we paid fifteen cents toll to cross the Mississippi River and saw barges and tugboats. We drove through Davenport and Rock Island and slept in the car fifteen miles west of Iowa City. The next day we crossed the Missouri River to Omaha. Here we swam and showered at the Y.W.C.A. for thirty cents and then through Lincoln, Nebraska and slept in the car along side a cornfield.
There were no express ways and most of the time just two lane roads. In many ways this was more interesting that traveling today. We drove through and not around towns. The restaurants, the stores, gas stations with old tall gas pumps were most of the time family owned, and each town seemed to have its own distinct characteristics. We bought milk, bread, cereal and what we needed and ate in the car or where ever it was handy. No McDonalds or fast foods.
Nebraska was hot, the radiator of the car boiled over and we had to get water for the car and let the car cool before we could go on. The country looked parched and we felt that way too. No car air conditioning in those days. That evening we saw in a city pool and splurged on a hotel for one dollar fifty.
The next day we arrived in Colorado and we saw the first view of the mountains. They seemed close but they were actually about seventy miles away. I will never forget that view and I have loved the mountains ever since. We spent the next two nights in Denver at the home of Si Van Oltif and family. They were relatives of Fred. Saturday we drove to the top of M. Evans, 14,260 feet high. Snow plows were busy cleaning away the snow on the road. We saw Buffalo Bill’s grave, Echo Lake and many beautiful scenes. Sunday we went to church and Si gave us a tour of Denver.
Monday July 13: Rocky Mt Nat. Park: We played in the snow, saw bear, elk and lovely lakes and streams. Again we slept in the car. Next day we drove through western Colorado and into Utah. We could not believe the hundreds of big jackrabbits on and alongside of the road. We arrived in Salt Lake City. We saw the Mormon Temple and swam in the very salty Salt Lake. We were advised to drive through the desert at night because it was too hot during the day. We picked up a hitchhiker and drove all night and arrived in Reno, Nevada at 11 a.m. There was very much gambling and many night clubs. I lost two dollars and learned a lesson: don’t gamble. We slept at the Reno Y.M.C.A. Thursday we drove around part of the north side of Lake Tahoe. It was just beautiful and not very much developed. This was nature’s gem in the raw. Then on to Sacramento, California where we watched a parade, visited the State Capitol and saw our first date tree and orange groves. On the 17th we arrived in San Francisco and were fascinated and amazed by this diverse city with the trolley cars, winding streets, fish markets, steep hills and the architecture of the houses. The war effort was very notable here with the ship yards and of the navy men and other military personnel. There were many Blimps with steel cables hanging down for the anti aircraft snares. We slept on the ocean beach that night but we should have slept in the car because when we got back to the car in the morning the window was broken and the camera was gone.
On to Yosemite National Park and the most beautiful setting I have ever seen. Bridal Falls, half dome, the valley and towering mountains, the splendor of the redwood and the fir trees was awesome. We left the door open of the car to take pictures of some bears. A bear must have smelled the apples on the floor behind the front seat and with his paw got out an apple and in the process made a slight tear on the seat back.
Next day to Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat’l Park. Slept again in the car. Many more amazing trees, the world’s tallest, the largest and the tree that ahd a tunnel cut through that we drove our car through. I have pictures of many of these experiences. Going through Bakersfield, it was unbearably hot so we found a mountain stream to swim, wash and cook off in.
Los Angeles (the city of angels)
We arrived at 11 p.m. and located Fred’s relative that just happened to own a three story apartment house. What a wonderful thing to have our own apt., after all the times we slept in the car, on beaches, cornfields or wherever. The next day we received a letter informing us that our friend Abe Marcusse was in an Air Force School in Glendale. For the next four or five weeks when Abe was off duty we enjoyed doing many things together. We saw Hollywood, MGM movie studio, the Rose Bowl, Beverly Hills, Forest Lawn cemetery, Santa Monica, Long Beach and its amusement park. It was almost endless the things we could do. We visited my relatives Uncle Ed Plette, his family and their families. Ralph Dik and family and Rudy Dik and family who was living in L.A. at that time. On Sundays we would go to church, Abe often would bring his army buddy Jim along.
One of the things we had to do was to earn some money so that we could eventually go home. The first job I had was in a general garage as a mechanic. I was only there about 15 minutes when a car was pushed in that had stopped running. I could tell that the owner had flooded it. The auto shop owner insisted that I install a new ignition coil. I refused and quit the job. So that was to be the shortest employment of my life. Then Fred and I worked for TOMKINS REBABITING PLANT. We worked there about 4 or 5 weeks.
August 12: we went to a Premiere opening and saw Betty Davis, Eddie Cantor and some other star.
August 15: we washed the car, changed a tire, adjusted the brakes and prepared for the return trip.
August 19: A dim out was started. All the city lights had to be out or very dim, and all shades pulled down. The purpose was so that no Japanese plane or sub would see the lights of the city.
August 20: we drove south and over the border to Tijuana, Mexico. This city seemed to us as loud, dirty, and rough. We thought we would try to go up the coast from Mexico to Canada, so we drove back up the coast and through San Diego. Fred and I were there at an ocean dock watching a fishing boat unload, when a B24 bomber flew low over us and looked up wondering what it would be like to fly in one. Little did we know that both of us would be in the U.S. Air Force, Fred as a B24 pilot and I as a crew member on a B26. Back in L.A. the four of us went to Glendale church Sunda and then to cousins Ralph and Nellie’s house with all the California relatives. They took 8 mm movies. I still have the film, but no projector.
August 24: We left L.A. heading north and slept by a sugar bee field. We already missed our L.A. apartment but we were heading home. Through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge and we slept in the car that night 70 miles from Eureka.
The next night we also slept in the car south of Portland, Oregon. August 27 we drove past Tacoma and around Puget Sound to Seattle, Washington. There we got a hotel and it was raining, so we wrote letters home. The next morning we took the S.S. Princess Charlotte through the sound and past many islands to Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. This was a very scenic tour. The city Victoria is very British. We could imagine ourselves in England. There were also many beautiful gardens. We came back on the Princess Alice. We slept in the car again and the next day drove across the state to the Grand Coulee Dam where we took a tour through the power plant. This was a the time the world’s largest power dam. Then on into Idaho where a car just missed our Ford and smashed into the car behind us. This made us realize what a difference one second can make, and how our life can end at any time.
The following day we drove through Glacier Nat’l Park and took a three hour hike off the road to Hidden Lake. That night we slept on the ground by the car. It was so cold I almost froze, but Glacier is still one of my favorite parks.
We arrived in Yellowstone Nat’l Park that night and we slept at the Old Faithful village cabins for $1.25. Due to the war, people did not travel as much so the parks did not have many visitors at all. It seemed to me that Yellowstone is the most diverse of all the National Parks. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, many geysers, hot springs and many different kinds of animals make it special. The next day we saw the Shoeshone dam and other interesting places. We slept in a field near Gillette, Wyoming.
September 3, we changed another tire. We saw the Bad Lands, Black Hills and Mount Rushmore with the stone faces. That night we stayed at a motel at Wall, South Dakota for $1.00. The next day we arrived in Corsica, South Dakota at 6:15 pm. We stayed here with the Egbert Star family. They were relatives of Fred. We fixed three well worn tires. Sunday we went to church with the Star family. In the evening we took the girls to the Mount Holland church and after church we had a party at the home of Marie.
Monday was Labor Day and we took Octavia Star to college. At night Fred and I went out with Ann Star and Vernon.
The next day we started on th elast leg of the trip. We slept that night at Rusford , Minnesota for $1.50. The next morning there was another flat tire which needed to be fixed. We then drove to Milwaukee and took the Milwaukee Clipper car ferry to Muskegon. It cost $11.30 We slept on deck chairs. We were home in Grand Rapids by 8 a.m. on Sept 10, 1942. Good to be home again and see family and friends.
September 11. I started work again for Jim Miler at Universal Ford with a $5.00 a week raise in pay.
September 14. I had a physical exam at the armory.
September 19. I received a notice that I was A-1 for the army.
September 29 I enlisted in the Army as an airplane mechanic.
U.S. AIR FORCE, OCTOBER 2, 1942—FEBRUARY 14, 1946
I enlisted because I wanted to do my part to win the war. By enlisting I had a chance of getting into the air force. This appealed to me better than the infantry. On Oct. 2 we left from the post office for Fort Custer. Andy Rodenhouse was on the bus with me. Our families turned out to see us off. After our physicals and shots we were confined to barracks. Sunday our families and Louis Kuipers came to see the rookie soldiers. The next four days we cleaned guns, scrubbed floors and drilled.
Friday we took a troop train to Goodfellow Field, Texas. This was near San Angelo, Texas. About a week later I was transferred to Concho field about 30 miles on the other side of town. There I was assigned to K.P. for five days. K.P. is, I think, the most disliked job in the army. Sometimes I would hitch a ride in the A.T. 11 practice bombers. The bombardiers would sit in the nose of the airplane and with the Norden bomb sight calculate when to release the 100 pound bomb, which was filled with 95 pounds of sand and 5 pounds of powder. The powder would ignite and a camera would take pictures to record a hit.
I was assigned with 18 other met to the bombing range. There were five targets located from 50 to 150 miles from the field in a remote country. This was an interesting and a good job, but I signed up for airplane mechanic school.
I arrived at Shepherd filed Wichita Falls, Texas in March, ’43. Abe Marcusse was here, but left for Will Rogers field a week later. The two of us did see Caroline Koster who was an army nurse here. I was here for five months learning aircraft mechanics on the B26 medium twin engine bomber. It was so hot here we would walk a mile for a coke because the water tasted terrible. At a church in town I met Louise Rathke who became a good friend.
In Aug. ’43 I was transferred to Dodge City, Kansas B26 Air Base. This was a school that checked out pilots on the B26. These pilots had already finished all their advanced training and were now commissioned officers. They were here to learn how to fly the B26. They were taught how to take off and land, cut out an engine and fly with only one engine. Also to fly blind with only instruments to guide them and how to handle the plane in a stall and in night flying. The B26 was not a user-friendly aircraft. Rumor had it that more people were killed training in the B26 than in combat. We often flew formation flying. The pilots were often only 20 or 21 years old. When the instructors were not with them they sometimes acted like a kid in a sports car. Some of them loved to buzz the wheat fields or a house. About a hundred B26s were based here an din the time I was there I counted eleven crashes and 37 men killed.
My duties here were to look after 2R20 Seat Pea, check out the engines in the morning and do some repair work. June 16 I was checked out as crew chief and engineer, which mean that when my plane went up I flew with it. We looked forward to cross country flights. One was to San Francisco. The pilot wrote up an electrical problem, that grounded the plane, so we had three days to see San Francisco. We felt out numbered. The streets were filled with navy personnel. This is really a navy town. Another time we had a night flight to Memphis. As we came in for a landing I stood by the pilot to see the airport at night. I could see that the pilot was overshooting the runway so I went to my seat and put on my seat belt. The pilot had the brakes in landing. The tires blew out and the plane ground looped, breaking the front strut. We had a couple days there before they sent another plane to bring us back to Dodge City. For a while we had women pilots of the Ferry command. Another time we had French pilots.
Nov. 8, ’43 my first furlough home. It had been more than a year since I had been home. I walked in just at supper time. They were very surprised to see me. Sister Ruth had grown from a little girl into a young lady. This was a pleasant time. I visited all the relations and went out with some of the girls that had been writing to me. I took Mother and Aunt Agatha to Kalamazoo so they could visit. Gladys and two of her friends and I had a good time horse back riding.
Back to Dodge City: We had some good USO shows including Bob Hope, Jerry Coloma and others. Some 3 day passes to Oklahoma to see Andy Rodenhouse, hitch hiked Lawrence Kansas with Carl Zaruba to see his cousin at U. of Kansas. We had a good time. She was the one who sent Thressa a teddy bear from Uncle Dan and Aunt Rosie when David was born.
Mail call was always welcome and our family was very faithful. Dad included the sermon outline every week. Dad also gave both Ralph and myself a lifetime subscription to the Reader’s Digest. This was a generous gift I still enjoy.
Dodge City, Kansas, population about 10,000, is located in western Kansas on the old Santa Fe Trail. It was here in the days of the cowboy and the large cattle drives, the saloons the boot hill cemetery that Dodge was a wild place to be. Now it is a dull, desolate, dreary and windy city along the railroad track and the Arkansas River. The city and air base was surrounded by thousands of sections of wheat. From the air this looks like a giant checkerboard. This was not exactly the place to find fun or excitement. In the summer it was hot, and in the winter it was cold. I’m sorry, I should not complain Marve. At least it was better than New Guinea. I spent 22 months here.
Furlough August 1-15, 1944. Fred had just finished and graduated a second lieutenant. He was now a pilot B24s on a four engine bomber. We had made plans to spend this furlough together in Grand Rapids. What a great time we had. Fred had met Helen on his prior furlough so we double dated almost every night, I with several old girlfriends.
Now some entrees from my old service diary:
May 8, President Roosevelt died. May 11, cross country flight to Randolph field. May 25, 2R68 crashed, killing all four. PFC Keith was the engineer. May 29, 2R71 crashed, killing three. Charles Finly pilot. June 16, Ralph left for the army. The 16th rumor the field will close. Jul 2, I got one hour at the controls. July 7, I was trasnferred to Del Rio, Texas. July 14, I went to Villa Accuna, Mexico. Saw a movie, but could not understand it. July 28-29, Coady and I went to Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. We saw a bull fight and the killing of three Spanish bulls. Once of that is enough. August 6, President Truman announced the dropping of a secret atomic bomb on a Japanese City. August 14, the war is over!! Praise the Lord !!! September 7, was sent to Chanute field. Here I drove a truck to town to get registered mail. The army had a point system for discharging men. Those who had served overseas were discharged first. I was discharged February 14, 1946, Valentine’s Day. Lou Kuipers, Marve Donker, Nick Borst, Ralph Dik, and I all served in the armed forces of the United States.
AFTER SERVICE TIME
I received my Honorable Discharge from the Air Force Feb. 14, 1946 at Fort Sheridan IL. It hardly seemed real that I was now a civilian after almost 31/2 years in the Air Force. I drove home to G.R. in my 36 Ford on a cold and slippery day. Then mother and I drove to the train station to pick up Thressa, Louie and Baby David. They also were coming in by train.
I started work at Bill Pastoor Ford Inc. Jim Miller, my former boss was no the service manager. At that time I did not intend to spend 41 years as an auto mechanic, but once I started it was not easy to change. I took a civil service test and passed and was called to start as a mail carrier, but changed my mind at the last minute, because at the time it was paying less. Latter I was sorry. I could have retired five years sooner.
Helen Ruiter (Fred’s girlfriend) Marthleen and I went again to the train station to get Fred. I had not seen Fred since we had a furlough together 22 months before. The train station sure was a busy place in those days, during the war and shortly after.
While in the service I started smoking and when I came back home from the service I was 24 years old and moved back with my folks. I smoked in the house and I know my parents detested smoking. I am sorry about that. I had a lot to learn. I am sure my parents were praying that I find a Christian girl, get married and move out.
THIS IS HOW IT CAME ABOUT
Many of my friends were now married and after some dating I still did not find the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. On Sept. 26, 1946 my sister Gladys married Marvin Donker at the 5th Ref. Church. Our cousin Gladys Schuring was the wife of Rev. John Schuring from Fremont. He was asked to perform the wedding. At the wedding I sat next to Gladys Schuring and she asked where my firl friend was. I said I did not have a steady girl.
About a week later I received a letter inviting me to tea Oct. 5, 1946 at the parsonage in Fremont at 2:30 Sat. When I arrived there Gladys said there was a girl in the church across the street practicing the organ that she wanted me to meet. So Gladys brought Carolyn over for tea and then I went to church with her while she played the organ. I asked if I could take her to dinner. Yes, but first she had to go home. When we got to the farm house around the big round kitchen table were about a dozen of her relatives that I was introduced to. They gave me the skeptical eye, and I was not sure I passed inspection. This was the baby of the family 20 years old and going out into the world with a person they did not know, but then I was introduced by their minister’s wife.
We had dinner at Chuck’s Place on the old U.S. 31 south of Grand Haven. Then we drove to the state park and walked out to the end of the pier. It was a beautiful night. The next Wednesday we went out again. That sort of set a pattern Wednesdays and Saturdays for us to see each other.
This courtship involved 200 plus miles a week. A couple of car accidents, one that I rolled the car over end over end and completely demolished my beloved 36 Ford that had taken me on big trip out west and so many other places. I also had to drive the bad roads to Fremont and one time was snowed in at Carolyn’s home and had to be pulled out with horses.
For Christmas 1946 I gave Carol a cedar chest. That seemed to be the custom at that time.
On Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day I gave Carol an engagement right.
I had replaced the 36 Ford with a 1940 Packard. This was a wonderful car.
On May 1, 1947 we were married in the Fremont Church by Rev. John O. Schuring.
Best man was my brother Ralph. Bridesmaid was Joan Van Goor.
On our honeymoon trip we went to N.Y. City and up the Empire State Bldg., at that time the world’s tallest and went to the top of the Statue of Liberty and many other sights.
At a hotel in N.Y. we saw for the first time a T.V. set in the lobby. It was about 5 by 7 inches and not too good a picture but T.V. would in a short time revolutionize the way we see things. We went to Washington D.C., Independence Hall, Philadelphia and Nigeria Falls. I found out that Carol is a very smart person, but she could not read maps on our Honeymoon and she still can’t.
After the war housing was in very short supply. I finally found an upstairs for rent at 1022 Grandville Ave. This house is still at that location, but even at that time it was in poor shape. The floors were so uneven that if you put a ball on the floor the ball would roll to the lowest spot. We bought an oil heater for heat and we had a gas coil for hot water. The gas heater had no control, we lit it by match. We had to remember to turn it off before it got so hot it could blow the house up. When we left the house we had to remember TURN OFF THE WATER HEATERS!
I sold my 1940 Packard, because we wanted to save money for a house. I then bought a 1932 Chevrolet. Carol had sold her 1938 Plymouth just before we married. I was making one dollar an hour at work. Carol got a book keeping job at ROOT AND Co., a dry cleaning supply co. She took the bus to work down town on Ionia Ave. On her first day at work she walked to see me at PASTOOR’S and said she was going to quit because they were critical and she did not like them. I said give them one week try and then if you still feel the same o.k. By that time they found out she knew her bookkeeping and they could trust her. They became good friends and corresponded for years after she stopped working. Carol had 15 dollars a week for all the living expenses.
On Jan 1, 1949 New Year’s Day, we were blessed with our first lovely baby ANN CAROL DIK. We have good memories of those days, walking her in the stroller and taking her to the park to play. We read to her so often she soon knew the stories by heart.
Feb 25, 1950 was a sub zero day. There was a gas explosion in the basement of the house across the street, the fireman were checking it out, and Carol watching through the window when the store blew apart. Other houses on both sides of the street had gas in the basements, so we were all evacuated for five days. We had to live with parents for five days.
We thought it time to look for a house of our own in a better neighborhood. In March-1951 we bought a new two bedroom house with expansion attic at 1457 Edward S.E. Later I made one big bedroom upstairs and also had a garage built. The house with garage, street and attic cost about 13,000 dollars.
ROGER CARL was born 2-15-52. We were so thankful to have a new house in a good area, close to Sylvan school and Boston Sq. church. Some of our neighbors were Wobbemas, Kingmas, Browers, Matthews, Datemas and the Quists.
We lived in this house for ten years. GLENN ALAN was born while we lived here, Nov. 16, 1956. Ann had a baby rabbit and without our permission stuffed it in a small shoe box and took it to school for show and tell. Roger lost the end of his finger by putting it under the chain and sprocket of Andy’s bike. Roger and Andy Wobbema were riding their bikes when hit by a drunk driver and Andy was killed and Roger was injured. This was a very sad time. We were thankful Roger was not killed, but felt so terrible for the Wobbemas.
We lived on Edward St. for ten years and then had the house guilt at 2200 Rosewood S.E. MARY ELLEN was born here on Aug. 29-1966.
AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY
11-3-98 To be read at Funeral
A few thoughts and words of love to our children and grandchildren.
Your mother and I love you very much. We consider you as gifts from God to love and bring up in a Christian home to the best of our abilities. We have not always been the best examples for you. We too have our sinful human nature, that is not always very good. But what we did was out of love for you and what we thought was best for you at the time.
We are thankful that all of you have achieved a good education that far exceeds your mother’s and mine. You have all done well and have worked very hard. We take joy in this
We also know that the most important and lasting achievement is spiritual, that is our relationship to God. Who is Jesus to us? Is He our Lord and Savoir? We can have the sure knowledge and the assurance that at the end of this life we will have a home in heaven with Jesus and all our loved ones who have gone on before us. We desire this for all our children and grandchildren.
We can not earn salvation. It is not what we have done, it is what Christ has done. He loved us so much that He left his Heavenly home to come down as a baby and lived on this earth for 33 years to give us the good news and then to suffer and die, and then arise again to pay for all our sins, if we will accept Him into our lives and live for him.
When we got to bed at night it is a wonderful thought and peace of mind to have the knowledge to know we have a heavenly home awaiting us.
A FEW MORE THOUGHTS
When a young couple are in love, they want to spend all their time together.
When we love Jesus we want to spend time with His people.= Go to church.
The Bible says {What does it profit a man if he gains the world and looses his soul}.
Song
My Jesus I love Thee; I know Thou art mine. For Thee all the follies of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved thee my Jesus is now.
Hymn
Sign the wondrous love of Jesus, sing His mercy and His grace
In the mansions bright and blessed He’ll prepare for us a place.
When we get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.
CHRISTIANITY HAS NEVER BEEN A SPECTATOR SPORT
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.
John 14: 1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Happiness held is the seed…happiness shared is the flower.”—Anonymous
Song: It is well with my soul
Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
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Obituary Notice:
DIK - Daniel Dik, age 89, of Grandville, peacefully entered eternity on Monday, February 21, 2011. Dan was born to Albert and Hattie Dik on October 28, 1921. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Gladys (Dik) Donker. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 63 years, the love of his life, Caroline; four children, Ann (William) Swagman, Roger (Pearl) Dik, Glenn (Deb) Dik, Mary (Steve) Adams; nine grandchildren, Joel, Kirstin, Kyle, Jessica, Brian, Jeffrey, Tyler, Austin, Amanda; nine great grandchildren; sisters and brother, Thressa Kuipers, Ralph (Donna) Dik, Ruth (Nick) Borst; sister-in-law, Mabel Van Zweden; many nieces and nephews. Dan proudly served our country during WWII as a member of the US Army Air Corps. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. on Thursday at Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, 4375 Ivanrest SW, Grandville, with Rev. Philip Boender officiating. Interment at Grandville Cemetery. Relatives and friends may meet the family on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville) 4145 Chicago Dr. and Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. prior to the service at church. The family would like to express their appreciation to the great staff at LifeHOUSE Crystal Springs for all their compassion and loving care during his brief stay. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to C.R.W.R.C. or The Missionary Fund of Fellowship C.R.C. in Grandville. Condolences may be sent online at: www.mkdfuneralhome.com . Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf
Addendum:
Youtube tribute video (put together by my aunt)
Daniel Dik Tribute
"I think," he told me, "this is something everyone should do for their children and grandchildren."
And I couldn't agree more. I can't even begin to imagine how much richer my family history would be if all of my great grandparents (who I never met) or other grandparents had done this. Of all the material gifts he had given me over years, this is by far the most valuable. (HINT HINT HINT any family reading this).
To the best of my knowledge, no electronic copy of this existed, so I spent the better part of today just re-typing it. (If it turns out an electronic copy of this does exist somewhere, probably best just not to tell me at this point.)
Why go through all that trouble?
1). As a blog post, this is a much better tribute to him than any trite piece I would have written up.
2). Despite the fact that Grandpa photocopied and distributed lots of copies of this, I worry that as the years roll on this might be the kind of thing that would get lost beneath stacks of other old papers. I wanted to have a copy on-line that could be easily referenced and locatable at all times, and also would be permanently available. (That is in the sense anything on-line is permanent-- as long as it fits blogger.com's business model to host this blog for free on their servers.)
3). Of the 20 people that read this blog, about half of them are relatives anyway, and I thought maybe it might be useful for them people to have an electronic copy of this as well.
I have resisted the temptation to act as editor on this Memoir, and just typed it up exactly as he wrote it despite the fact that some parts of it probably could have used an editorial hand (lack of clear transitions in places, some repetitions, some parts which are out of chronological order, inconsistent spelling of some of the names, et cetera). My theory is that now that this document is electronic, anyone who wants to can edit it to their satisfaction for whatever purpose they want.
The only thing I fixed were the occasional typos I came across. And, as I sat in front of this computer screen typing all day, I worry that I probably inserted just as many of my own typos, if not more. If you see any obvious ones let me know and I'll just go ahead and correct them.]
Memories 1921-1966
Daniel Dik, born on October 28, 1921
My parents were Albert and Hattie Dik. The address was 1129 Hermitage St., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The doctor was Dr. Lieffers. I was born in the upper front bedroom. This was the common practice at that time. I was the second of five children that lived. Mother and Dad’s first baby died at five days of a heart condition known as baby blue, not getting enough blood.
Thressa was the oldest, then myself, next Gladys, Ralph and Ruth. The first baby was also named Daniel. He is buried in the Fulton St. cemetery.
The area where we lived was called the brick yards because at one time many brick factories were on the east side of town. As we would not have a car for many years to come this was a very convenient area to live in. The church, Dennis Ave. C.R.C., the Baldwin St. Christian school, the farmer’s market, the meat market, and the street cars on both Fulton and Lake Drive were within two blocks.
At first my mother had an old cast iron stove that burned coal. Later she had a new Garland gas stove. We also had an ice chest with a drain pain underneath hidden by a wood flap door. When we wanted ice we put the ice card in the front window that indicated 25, 50, 75 or 100 pounds of ice. The ice man would split the ice with his ice pick and with his ice tongs carry the ice over his shoulder into our house. The bread man, the milk man, and the huckster that delivered fresh fruits and vegetables all came with their horse drawn wagons or Model-T trucks.
We had a coal furnace for heat and a coal bin that held five tons of coal. There was another room where all the canning jars and supplies were kept. Also in the fall of the year about eight bushels of potatoes were kept to tide us over the winter. On Saturdays we each received two cents allowance to spend or save as we saw fit. We often talked to Bronkemas store to buy candy.
Mother and Dad were very devoted, caring, loving parents. They taught us by their example of honesty and to always try to do the right thing. Sometimes the neighbors, Mrs. Boggard, Mrs. Imans or Mrs. Weber would stop in and visit with mother. About once a week Grandpa Goudberg would walk over from Prospect St. N.E. to have a cookie and tea with Mother. Mother and Aunt Jeanette also would walk over to each others houses to visit. Sometimes they would take along some of the kids. Uncle John would often be in his barn tinkering with his old model 1922 Model-T Ford. He was very kind and patient with me. He had a garden and in the fall he dug a hole about three feet deep and buried carrots and other vegetables to keep for use in the winter. He also gave me a little wrench that I had for many years. He may have foreseen the time when I would be an auto mechanic. Uncle John’s Model-t had only one door in the middle of the center. To operate the windows a strap had to be pulled. It had a lilte flower vase mounted inside.
Dad was a cabinet maker. Every morning he made his lunch and then walked to Fulton St. and boarded the street car to the GRAND RAPIDS STORE EQUIPMENT CO. where he worked. In the evening we kids walked to meet the street car and walked home with him. On arriving home Dad would greet Mother with a kiss and say “I enjoyed my work today.”
Dad was always active in church work, men’s society, consistory, visiting the sick, and making family visits.
He made notes of all the sermons and made scrap books of all the ministers. In my mind I can still see Dad sitting at the desk that he had made, studying or writing. The Banner in English and the De Wachter in Dutch both Christian Reformed magazines, kept Dad informed of the current events in the church.
On Sunday afternoon Dad and one or two of us would walk over to Aunt Agatha and Uncle Pete to visit Dad’s mother who had a room in the upstairs. Grandma Dik was very deaf and for her to hear us she had a collapsible horn she put in her ear and we would talk in it.
The farmer’s market on Fulton St. was always interesting. I saw some peple driven to the market by their chauffeur, and two ladies often came in their electric car which was steered by a tiller.
Our house first had a wood porch. In about the mid twenties we got a brick porch. Ralph fell off the porch one time and landed on his head, but neither his head nor the cement seemed to suffer permanent damage. About this time we also had a full modern bathroom built upstairs. Before that we kids took a bath in a round galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor every Saturday.
We had a RCA Victor phonograph record player that we had to wind up with a handle to play. On Sunday morning Dad would get up early and play records. He would sing in Dutch, “Why do you sleep so long”. At a later time I took the record player apart to see how it worked. I am sorry to say that was the end of the record player.
One time I stayed at Uncle Dirk’s house on Hall St. It was winter and very cold. Cousins Pete and Rudy and I slept on the glass enclosed front porch. They thought that the cold air killed germs and that it was healthy to sleep in the cold.
Around 1928 election time I remember kids singing “Hoover, Hoover, he’s our man, he put Smith in the garbage can.” Al Smith was the Democrat running for president at that time. Of course we were Republicans.
We sometimes played checkers or Chinese checkers, ate popcorn and took walks with Dad. Sometimes we sang as Mother played the old pump organ.
When we were kids we not only shared a room, we shared a bed. The mattress had a low area in the center so I put 2 two by fours under the mattress to raise the center so that my brother Ralph stayed on his side of the bed. He now says that he got my elbow in his ribs if he drifted towards my side.
Mother’s sister Anna’s husband was Ralph Roelefson. One day he took us in his 1926 Chevrolet to Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan. He drove very fast and said we are going a mile a minute. “Wow!” I had never gone that fast.
In about 1928 it was decided tonsils were not needed and may in fact cause colds and sore throats. So Uncle John was recruited to take Theresa, Gladys, and myself in this Model-T downtown to Dr. Lieffers office to have them removed. We each received a toy to aid in the healing process. I think mine was a toy airship on a string. We could wind it up and it would fly around.
Saturday was catechism class. Our parents made sure we knew the answers. It was also my job to polish all the shoes on Saturday to be ready for church.
There was one blind old Negro in the area called “Old Blind Ed.” We could hear the tapping of his white cane as he shuffled along. He was a friendly person and accepted by all. As children in the neighborhood we had few toys so we played cops and robbers, hide and seek, tag catch and rode our bikes and wagons.
As a small lad I could build such tall towers with my blocks and Gladys would crawl over and knock them down.
Once Grandpa Goudberg gave me two discarded old pocket watches. One was a railroad watch and the other was a small watch with a cover. I put this small watch and other treasures in a court jar and buried it just like the pirates used to do in the stories I read. I buried this between the houses on Hermitage. They may still be there because I do not recall ever digging them up. There were two attics in our house. One was above the kitchen and the other was above the rest of the house. I made the top trim board of the window removable so I could hide small items.
In 1924 Rev. Herman Hoeksema left the C.R.C. over the issue called God’s common grace. He formed the Protestant Reformed Church. This split many families. I remember sneaking out of bed and sitting on the top step listening to the heated discussion of Dad and Uncle John.
In the twenties and until 1935 street cars ran to John Ball Park on the west and Ramona Park on the east. John Ball Park with the zoo, ponds, and the statue of John Ball and the children was a great place to go for picnics. Ramona park with the thrill rides, fun house and the carnival atmosphere was considered worldly, but the coal fired steamer on Reed’s Lake with it’s double deck was permissible.
In the days before sulfa and penicillin many disease could be life threatening so the health department would nail up a sing near the front door warning that some one with a contagious disease was inside.
BALDWIN STREET CHRISTIAN SCHOOL [also known as the old Dutch prison]
This school was only about one and a half blocks from our house. This was a two story wood structure. Most of the children walked home for lunch because most mothers did not work at that time. I remember Mr. Herrema as a rather stern principle. I was not a good student. I missed out on much of the teaching because of my tendency to daydream in class. One of the teachers Miss Oosterhoff gave me A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Lewis Stevenson for good work in grade 2-2. One other teacher always started the afternoon with a good novel. She may have instilled in me a love for reading.
I loved to read. I remember stories by James Oliver Curwood, about the Canadian Royal Police and other adventure stories of the north country. Richard Haliburton was another one of my favorite authors. When in class I would dream of sailing the ocean on a raft or exploring China or some other far off place.
My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
NOT IN VAIN by Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
March 8, 1937 Vern Ouendag and I took a walk to Reeds Lake and the East G.R. country gold course.
March 9, 1937 Monday it was my first day that I wore long pants to school. Before that I had worn knickers which were pants that ended with an elastic cuff just below the knee.
April 2 Fred and I walked to south high school to see pictures and we walked a couple of girls home. WOW! Big stuff, long pants and walking a couple of girls home. I got home at eleven thirty.
DEPRESSION YEARS
Most of the twenties were good years but starting in 1929 and lasting into 1937 the economy hit bottom. This was a WORLD DEPRESSION. Herbert Hoover was president at the time. In 1932 Franklin Roosevelt was elected. He started many programs to aid the economy, some of them were the NEW DEAL, THR NATIONAL RECOVERY ACT (NRA), WPA and the CCC. The CCC’s were for young men that could not find a job and had no place to go. Here they had work to do planting trees, making forest trails, and many other worth while jobs to keep them occupied.
In 1929 the government had to close the banks because the people were making a run on the banks to get their money. This caused a panic. I was about nine years old and was on the corner of Diamond and Fulton St., near the bank. There was a big crowd in front of the bank. The people were milling around and one couple went berserk. The police paddy wagon came and took them away. They were unemployed and all their money was in this bank.
Many people lost their homes because they could not pay their property tax. There were also bread lines to fee the poor at the fire stations relief food was available.
Some men also rode the rails, climbing on top or into the freight cars and going west or wherever the train would take them. They were looking for jobs, food or just to be doing something.
Once in a while one of these men would come to our house asking for a handout. Mother would make some food and they sat on the back steps to eat it.
Dad was unemployed much of the early years of the depression. He baked bread in the oven and I would deliver it with my wagon. With my wagon I also brought the ashes from our furnace to the dump.
They did not call dumps land fills at that time. The dump was north of Lyon St. at the end of Arthur St.
I also sold the LIBERTY MAGAZINE, THE SATURDAY POST and delivered the GRAND RAPIDS PRESS for years. The press was twelve cents a week. The profit was two cents. I made a wood box that would hold two gallons of milk and I rode out to Maryland Farms at Maryland and Michigan St. twice a week for milk.
At one time when things had been better, Dad had given us piggy banks made of cast iron that looked like a colonial house. Well the time came when Dad called us together and we opened the banks and shared the money because the money was needed. We children must have understood because I don’t remember any tears.
There was available some government relief but Dad was too proud to take this. Mother’s brother was Rev. William Goudberg and he was a missionary to the Indians in New Mexico at Tohatchi. Uncle Will had a steady job. He must’ve trusted Dad because Dad borrowed money from him. Every once in a while a registered letter came from Uncle Will. I still have some of those envelops stamped REGISTERED MAIL. Dad paid up with interest this loan in the early 40s.
In 1932 the Civic Auditorium was started and later in around 1935 to 1937 the street car rails were taken up. These were WPA jobs and provided jobs for the unemployed.
Once Mother and her sister Aunt Jeanette walked down town to shop. When Mother arrived home she discovered that she had lost one dollar. Mother felt very bad about that. A dollar was a lot of money.
Dad’s older brother Uncle Pete, his wife Aunt Jean and daughter Alice lived on Eastern just north of Sherman in apartment over a little store. Uncle Pete became discouraged with conditions in America, so on April 20, 1938 we said goodbye to them and he and his family moved back to Holland. This was a very bad move, because Europe in a few years would be over run by Hitler and his forces. The Germans were very suspicious of people that had lived in America. Dad did get some letters from them, but they had been opened and censored by the Nazis. After the war Dad found out that Uncle Pete’s wife had died during the war years in a place where they had been detained.
THE CHURCH
Dennis Ave. C.R.C. was one block from our house with the parsonage on the corner. This church was built in 1893. The nearness of the church was very convenient for our family because much of our life was involved with the church. There were three services each Sunday, the Dutch service was in the afternoon. There also was Sunday school, catechism, men’s society, ladies aid and many other activities.
I was baptized by the Rev. P. Jonker on Nov. 11, 1921. The baptism certificate that I still have is printed in the Dutch language.
Some early memories are of the Rev. Rikker, Heeres, Weidenaar, and Ostendorp. During the week we had to study our catechism and our parents quizzed us before we went to class on Saturday morning, and we had better know the answers to the questions.
On Sunday mornings some of the men that smoked on the way to church would lay their cigars on the edge of the cement steps and retrieve them after the service.
In 1928 Rev. Herre’s daughter Barbara became ill and died. In 1932 at the age of just 56, Rev. Heeres also became ill and died. This was a very sad time for the church. There were many people at the funeral service at the church and many had to stand outside and listen with the aid of big speakers that were put outside. To me as I sat on the front steps of our house it seemed as if the funeral procession was a mile long.
I have a copy of Fifty Years of Blessings celebrating the first fifty years of Dennis Ave. C.R.C. 1893-1943. I have taken the liberty to use some of the text.
“In 1921 it was decided that four services were to be held each LORD’S DAY, two in the Dutch language and two in the English. Slowly the language problems were adjusted to fit the needs of the youth. In 1923 a lot was purchased in the Belmont addition by the mission society for a small mission chapel.”
Sister Theresa used to teach there. It was then known as the Sunshine Gospel Hall and the cost was $250.00. Over the years this small beginning was blessed and is now called the SUNSHINE MINISTRIES and is the largest church in the C.R.C.
More quotes from Fifty Years of Blessings:
“For the afternoon service the language of the Fatherland will be used.”
“In much of this period prosperity was abundant. In 1929 work was plentiful and wages were high. The Lord ruled that a depression was needed for this land of ours, so instead of years of plenty, years of scarcity followed.”
“In 1943 there were 56 men of the church in military service.”
And there were more to come including brother Ralph. In paging through this booklet it seems to me that church life played a far greater part of people’s life then than it does now.
The church and our parents warned us against worldly amusements. Card playing, dancing and movies were considered sins that a Christian should refrain from.
COMMUNICATIONS
Letters were the main means of personal communication, stamps were two or three cents and then there was the penny post car. There was also the telegram by Western Union. When Dad’s sister in California died he was notified by telegram.
Newspapers were the way we got the news before the days of radio. If a very special news event occurred the papers would rush out an EXTRA, EXTRA edition and newsboys would hawk, “Extra extra, read all about it.”
When I was about twelve there was a used radio for sale in the window of a store on Fulton St. The sing said eight dollars, or one dollar a week less until sold. When the price was down to three dollars I bought it. What a thrill to have. We could get the news and listen to radio programs like “The Lone Ranger” or “Amos ‘n Andy”. A few years later sister Theresa and I went in together and bought a new radio with push buttons.
TEEN YEARS 1933 TO ABOUT 1939
Some of my friends in those years were Fred Frieswyk, Pete Evertse, Dennis Lachniet, George Scherphorn and later Abe Marcusse and Don Overbeek.
In the winter time after I delivered the press and did what other things I had to do, we could ice skate at Cherry Park, Wilcox Park or Reeds Lake. We used our sleds on any hill anywhere from Johnson Park to Ravenswood. In summer we swam at Wilcox Park where I learned to swim. Later at Soft Water Lake with its high diving tower and swing we would take our bikes there. It was five or six miles.
On the 4th of July there were always fire works over Reeds Lake. One time the family rented a row boat to spend sometime on the water and then tie up to the dock to watch the fire works. At dark the fire works started and one came down, still burning and landed right in our boat. In the confusion we all jumped out of the boat, water on one side, dock on the other side. It was dark and we tried to find each other and one was missing. What a terrible worry …. Finally we found the lost one. I think it was Ralph that in the panic jumped to the dock and then ran to shore.
We built a raft with 30 gallon barrels on Reeds Lake near a place called Manhatten, on the north side of the lake. We brought all the material there on our bikes. After a few weeks the raft was missing, claimed no doubt by someone living on the lake.
Sunday afternoon when most people were taking their nap we explored, walked, or hitchhiked over a wide area from Lansing to Grand Haven. We climbed water towers and new oil wells that were being put west of town along the Grand River. We explored the gypsum mines and the area west of John Ball Park, also the railroad repair workshops and turn around west of town.
As I look through my old photo album of the pictures taken in those years, I am struck that in all these pictures taken of the things we did on our Sunday walks we had on our Sunday suits, ties and dressed for church clothes on. Our parents would have preferred that we stay at home and read the Banner, but they must have thought that if we were dressed in our Sunday best we would not get into trouble. Little did they know but ignorance is bliss and we never did anything that was bad. We dared each other to swim in Reeds Lake on the last day of March when there was still ice on the shore line. It was a very brief and cold skinny swim. We hitch hiked east of town and the man was going to Lansing so we went along, but we had a hard time getting a ride back. I arrived back to 1129 Hermitage just as Dad and the family were coming down the porch steps on the way to church. To put it mildly Dad was not amused.
During these years and for years after, I collected postage stamps. Even in the early years I would go to the post office and buy a mint block of new stamps with my meager earnings. We also traded duplicate stamps with other collectors. At one time or another I also collect cigar brands, match book covers and coins. My brother Ralph also collected stamps and first day covers.
DAVIS TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
This was the school where I spent my high school years. The school was located down town on Bostwick St. just north of Fountain St. It was a very good school where a person could receive all the credits for college and at the same time learn a trade as auto shop, drafting, machine shop, printing, pattern making, electrical, commercial art, furniture design and other skills. This was achieved by having three hours of shop a day, and the other classes were 45 high school minutes, very frew study halls, and much home work.
At about this time I woke up and realized that I had a future to be concerned about. Cars had always fascinated me so I took auto mechanics with Mr. Ida and Mr. Flower both very capable teachers.
I did much better in high school—the fresh start was good for me and I did get good grades. I have good memories of high school although my social life was nil. One reason was that all the years I was in high school I had to hurry home to deliver the Press. Another reason was that I was sort of a wall flower and many students came from a different background.
Fred and I usually rode our bikes to school, rain or shine. There were no school buses in those days. Davis Tech close its doors in 1943, a war casualty.
My first date with a member of the fairer sex may well have been Virginia Jones. I took her on a hay ride that our church young people organized.
AIRPLANES AND THE OLD AIRPORT AT EASTERN AVE. AND 36TH ST.
On of my classmates from high school had a brother that was a pilot. He arranged for me to get a ride in an open two seat bi-wing plane. The pilot sat in the back cock-pit and I sat in the front. What a thrill! I also did get to ride in some other airplanes. I saw the big amphibious airplane come in from Detroit on its way to Milwaukee and of course the Ford tri-motor planes. Brother Ralph and his wife Celia also left from this airport for mission work in Africa in 1959.
The airport wanted to extend the east west runway longer for larger planes. The owner of the house on Eastern Ave. near the east end of the runway had a large tree that would interfere with the runway. He did not wan this runway so close to his house. He and the airport authority fought over this for a couple of years and could not reach a settlement. On a very dark stormy windy night with much thunder and rain some one sawed that large tree down. The tree just laid there for a few years. So the airport won and I never heard that anyone was ever caught or arrested for this.
After high school my first full time job was at McInerney Spring and Wire Co. I worked clipping border wire to car seat springs. I worked the night shift and the time just dragged. Five minutes seemed like an hour. That experience convinced me not to take a monotonous factory job again. Next job was with burkholder Chevrolet used car repair, then on to Reingelberg Garage. I did a lot of good work there while Frank and his friends were in the basement playing cars. I thought I was indispensible so whne I told Frank that Jim Miller had offered me a job I thought he would offer me a big pay increase. Instead he just OK. So I learned another lesson.
CARS AND RELATED EVENTS
In June of 1940 I bought my first car, a 1924 Model-T ford coupe. It was black and in the back it had a lid over a storage space. We put a small mattress in there and two people could just sit in there, but could not see much to the front. I paid eight dollars, sales tax was twenty seven cents. License plate and title cost, two dollars and thirty cents. Fred wanted part ownership of this car so I sold him part ownership for five dollars. We had fun riding around and if we were short of money we could buy a gallon of gas for ten cents. These cars did not have a shift lever. There were three pedals, one for the brake, one for reverse and the other that when pushed won was low and out was high gear. One day we went to Grand Haven with this car and the following day going up Hall St. hill by the cemetery there was a loud knock and the engine stopped. It had a broken crankshaft.
On July 16, 1940 I bought a 1929 Chevrolet and received three dollars trade in for the Model-T. I paid $35 for the Chevy. The mileage was 65,057. This was a much better car and gave good service. It was good for the family also have transportation. It was about this time that times were getting better. Dad was working full time. Dad rented a cottage at Bostwick Lake. While there Aunt Anna Goudberg and Grandpa and Grandma Goudberg visited us. Aunt Anna (Hertel) Goudberg was visiting us from New Mexico.
I think the year before in 1939 we rented a cottage on Green Lake. As I recall Theresa’s friend, Genevieve drove us out to Green Lake.
In March of 1941 I bought a 1932 Chrysler. This car had a split front windshield that either side could be opened out for ventilation. We didn’t even dream of a car with air conditioning in those days.
At about this time Fred, Pete and I did some roller skating. There was a place on South Division St. that had a large hall for skating. This place we called Zindoes which was the name of the owner. He kept strict discipline and it was a fun place to meet girls. We met some girls from Walker station area and for a while hung out around there.
I did not keep this car long and now I was working for Jim Miller at Universal Ford. I now had a 1937 Chevrolet. This was a good dependable car. With this car we made many trips.
On a holiday weekend Fred, Pete and I went to Chicago to see all the attractions. We went to the top of the Tribune Tower (at that time the tallest building) Navy Pier, Merchandise Mart, China Town and Museums. We rode the elevated train and took many pictures of Chicago at night. On the outer drive the police stopped us. They had noticed our out of town plate and said they had to arrest us for speeding and as it was a holiday weekend the judge would not be in until Monday so they would have to hold us in jail over the weekend. Actually they were trying to bribe us into paying them. We were too dumb to know it at the time. We were just small town boys. We really were scared and didn’t know what to do. After a while the police officer gave up and with a look of disgust went to his car, slammed the door and took off.
For lodging we had blankets and slept on the beach.
Note to my grandchildren-Do not try this! Times have changed in the last sixty years and not for the better. Prowling around big cities at night is VERY dangerous!
I had a 1935 Ford for a short time that I fixed all up and sold to Russ Overbeek for ninety-five dollars. On March 5, 1942 I bought a 1936 Ford. This was the car that Fred and I went west in and I kept it all through my three and a half years in the air force. I taught sister Gladys and brother Ralph to drive. I must have been a poor teacher because both of them hit curbs and blew out tires while learning. Tires were very hard to get at the time as there was a war going on, so we would put in a boot and patch the tube. I also taught Dad to drive which was not an easy task. Remember cars did not have automatic transmissions or hydraulic brakes at that time.
I don’t know when the custom started but in the late thirties and early forties, especially on Saturday and Sunday nights after church, young ladies would walk down Eastern Ave, Grandville Ave. or Leonard St. and young men in their cars would pull up along side and try to engage the girls in conversation and offer them a ride. At the time it seemed so harmless and like good fun. Many young people met their future mates in this way. This is how our friend Pete Evertse met his future wife Theresa. One evening when we met three girls walking down Leonard St. we were in Fred’s Model-A Ford…I don’t remember of hearing of any bad experiences but I sure would not recommend this today. Second notice to grand kids, don’t even think about getting in a car with strangers.
December 7, 1941 We heard over the radio that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor!
That event was to change everything all over the world. Before Pearl Harbor the U.S. was building up to aid the Allies and England. We did not know if we could stay out of the conflict. Now the U.S. and Canada declared all out war on both Japan and Germany.
By the time the war was over 15 million Americans had served in the armed forces. Every home that had a member in the armed forces displayed a blue star emblem in the front window for each member in the service. Some homes had 3 or 4 stars in the window.
Many young men were enlisting in the service and many men from age 20 to 36 were drafted.
Fred and I wanted to enlist in the service and we knew that eventually we would be drafted if we did not enlist. We thought that we might just have time yet to go on a trip to see the West. Gas was not rationed and once we were in the service, we might never live through the war.
July 6, 1942 OUR GREAT ADVENTURE! OUR TRIP TO THE WEST July 6—Sept. 10
Monday morning two excited young men left their homes, jobs and families to see what awaited us I the west country. We had never been farther from home before than Chicago. Our mothers had made lunches for the first day. The spare tire plus another spare were mounted on a bracket on the back of the trunk. Tires would be our major problem on the trip, but we had tires, irons and repair kits to patch the tubes with us.
On the first day we stopped in Marshall Michigan to see Ann Timmer, a chiropractor and Dr. Toy a naturopath chiropractor who dealt with Chinese herbs. They had a clinic. They treated me for colds. He had a big machine with many dials and knobs. He would place one object of food on a brass plate attached to an electrode and the other electrode in your hand and supposedly he could tell if the object or food on the brass plate was good for you or not. He was very sincere, but now I can’t imagine how he could have believed in what he did. He later mover to California. Ann Timmer had been a friend and classmate of sister Thressa.
On to Chicago and up the outer drive to downtown. We spent the night on what was called Northerly beach. Early Tuesday we paid fifteen cents toll to cross the Mississippi River and saw barges and tugboats. We drove through Davenport and Rock Island and slept in the car fifteen miles west of Iowa City. The next day we crossed the Missouri River to Omaha. Here we swam and showered at the Y.W.C.A. for thirty cents and then through Lincoln, Nebraska and slept in the car along side a cornfield.
There were no express ways and most of the time just two lane roads. In many ways this was more interesting that traveling today. We drove through and not around towns. The restaurants, the stores, gas stations with old tall gas pumps were most of the time family owned, and each town seemed to have its own distinct characteristics. We bought milk, bread, cereal and what we needed and ate in the car or where ever it was handy. No McDonalds or fast foods.
Nebraska was hot, the radiator of the car boiled over and we had to get water for the car and let the car cool before we could go on. The country looked parched and we felt that way too. No car air conditioning in those days. That evening we saw in a city pool and splurged on a hotel for one dollar fifty.
The next day we arrived in Colorado and we saw the first view of the mountains. They seemed close but they were actually about seventy miles away. I will never forget that view and I have loved the mountains ever since. We spent the next two nights in Denver at the home of Si Van Oltif and family. They were relatives of Fred. Saturday we drove to the top of M. Evans, 14,260 feet high. Snow plows were busy cleaning away the snow on the road. We saw Buffalo Bill’s grave, Echo Lake and many beautiful scenes. Sunday we went to church and Si gave us a tour of Denver.
Monday July 13: Rocky Mt Nat. Park: We played in the snow, saw bear, elk and lovely lakes and streams. Again we slept in the car. Next day we drove through western Colorado and into Utah. We could not believe the hundreds of big jackrabbits on and alongside of the road. We arrived in Salt Lake City. We saw the Mormon Temple and swam in the very salty Salt Lake. We were advised to drive through the desert at night because it was too hot during the day. We picked up a hitchhiker and drove all night and arrived in Reno, Nevada at 11 a.m. There was very much gambling and many night clubs. I lost two dollars and learned a lesson: don’t gamble. We slept at the Reno Y.M.C.A. Thursday we drove around part of the north side of Lake Tahoe. It was just beautiful and not very much developed. This was nature’s gem in the raw. Then on to Sacramento, California where we watched a parade, visited the State Capitol and saw our first date tree and orange groves. On the 17th we arrived in San Francisco and were fascinated and amazed by this diverse city with the trolley cars, winding streets, fish markets, steep hills and the architecture of the houses. The war effort was very notable here with the ship yards and of the navy men and other military personnel. There were many Blimps with steel cables hanging down for the anti aircraft snares. We slept on the ocean beach that night but we should have slept in the car because when we got back to the car in the morning the window was broken and the camera was gone.
On to Yosemite National Park and the most beautiful setting I have ever seen. Bridal Falls, half dome, the valley and towering mountains, the splendor of the redwood and the fir trees was awesome. We left the door open of the car to take pictures of some bears. A bear must have smelled the apples on the floor behind the front seat and with his paw got out an apple and in the process made a slight tear on the seat back.
Next day to Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat’l Park. Slept again in the car. Many more amazing trees, the world’s tallest, the largest and the tree that ahd a tunnel cut through that we drove our car through. I have pictures of many of these experiences. Going through Bakersfield, it was unbearably hot so we found a mountain stream to swim, wash and cook off in.
Los Angeles (the city of angels)
We arrived at 11 p.m. and located Fred’s relative that just happened to own a three story apartment house. What a wonderful thing to have our own apt., after all the times we slept in the car, on beaches, cornfields or wherever. The next day we received a letter informing us that our friend Abe Marcusse was in an Air Force School in Glendale. For the next four or five weeks when Abe was off duty we enjoyed doing many things together. We saw Hollywood, MGM movie studio, the Rose Bowl, Beverly Hills, Forest Lawn cemetery, Santa Monica, Long Beach and its amusement park. It was almost endless the things we could do. We visited my relatives Uncle Ed Plette, his family and their families. Ralph Dik and family and Rudy Dik and family who was living in L.A. at that time. On Sundays we would go to church, Abe often would bring his army buddy Jim along.
One of the things we had to do was to earn some money so that we could eventually go home. The first job I had was in a general garage as a mechanic. I was only there about 15 minutes when a car was pushed in that had stopped running. I could tell that the owner had flooded it. The auto shop owner insisted that I install a new ignition coil. I refused and quit the job. So that was to be the shortest employment of my life. Then Fred and I worked for TOMKINS REBABITING PLANT. We worked there about 4 or 5 weeks.
August 12: we went to a Premiere opening and saw Betty Davis, Eddie Cantor and some other star.
August 15: we washed the car, changed a tire, adjusted the brakes and prepared for the return trip.
August 19: A dim out was started. All the city lights had to be out or very dim, and all shades pulled down. The purpose was so that no Japanese plane or sub would see the lights of the city.
August 20: we drove south and over the border to Tijuana, Mexico. This city seemed to us as loud, dirty, and rough. We thought we would try to go up the coast from Mexico to Canada, so we drove back up the coast and through San Diego. Fred and I were there at an ocean dock watching a fishing boat unload, when a B24 bomber flew low over us and looked up wondering what it would be like to fly in one. Little did we know that both of us would be in the U.S. Air Force, Fred as a B24 pilot and I as a crew member on a B26. Back in L.A. the four of us went to Glendale church Sunda and then to cousins Ralph and Nellie’s house with all the California relatives. They took 8 mm movies. I still have the film, but no projector.
August 24: We left L.A. heading north and slept by a sugar bee field. We already missed our L.A. apartment but we were heading home. Through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge and we slept in the car that night 70 miles from Eureka.
The next night we also slept in the car south of Portland, Oregon. August 27 we drove past Tacoma and around Puget Sound to Seattle, Washington. There we got a hotel and it was raining, so we wrote letters home. The next morning we took the S.S. Princess Charlotte through the sound and past many islands to Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. This was a very scenic tour. The city Victoria is very British. We could imagine ourselves in England. There were also many beautiful gardens. We came back on the Princess Alice. We slept in the car again and the next day drove across the state to the Grand Coulee Dam where we took a tour through the power plant. This was a the time the world’s largest power dam. Then on into Idaho where a car just missed our Ford and smashed into the car behind us. This made us realize what a difference one second can make, and how our life can end at any time.
The following day we drove through Glacier Nat’l Park and took a three hour hike off the road to Hidden Lake. That night we slept on the ground by the car. It was so cold I almost froze, but Glacier is still one of my favorite parks.
We arrived in Yellowstone Nat’l Park that night and we slept at the Old Faithful village cabins for $1.25. Due to the war, people did not travel as much so the parks did not have many visitors at all. It seemed to me that Yellowstone is the most diverse of all the National Parks. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, many geysers, hot springs and many different kinds of animals make it special. The next day we saw the Shoeshone dam and other interesting places. We slept in a field near Gillette, Wyoming.
September 3, we changed another tire. We saw the Bad Lands, Black Hills and Mount Rushmore with the stone faces. That night we stayed at a motel at Wall, South Dakota for $1.00. The next day we arrived in Corsica, South Dakota at 6:15 pm. We stayed here with the Egbert Star family. They were relatives of Fred. We fixed three well worn tires. Sunday we went to church with the Star family. In the evening we took the girls to the Mount Holland church and after church we had a party at the home of Marie.
Monday was Labor Day and we took Octavia Star to college. At night Fred and I went out with Ann Star and Vernon.
The next day we started on th elast leg of the trip. We slept that night at Rusford , Minnesota for $1.50. The next morning there was another flat tire which needed to be fixed. We then drove to Milwaukee and took the Milwaukee Clipper car ferry to Muskegon. It cost $11.30 We slept on deck chairs. We were home in Grand Rapids by 8 a.m. on Sept 10, 1942. Good to be home again and see family and friends.
September 11. I started work again for Jim Miler at Universal Ford with a $5.00 a week raise in pay.
September 14. I had a physical exam at the armory.
September 19. I received a notice that I was A-1 for the army.
September 29 I enlisted in the Army as an airplane mechanic.
U.S. AIR FORCE, OCTOBER 2, 1942—FEBRUARY 14, 1946
I enlisted because I wanted to do my part to win the war. By enlisting I had a chance of getting into the air force. This appealed to me better than the infantry. On Oct. 2 we left from the post office for Fort Custer. Andy Rodenhouse was on the bus with me. Our families turned out to see us off. After our physicals and shots we were confined to barracks. Sunday our families and Louis Kuipers came to see the rookie soldiers. The next four days we cleaned guns, scrubbed floors and drilled.
Friday we took a troop train to Goodfellow Field, Texas. This was near San Angelo, Texas. About a week later I was transferred to Concho field about 30 miles on the other side of town. There I was assigned to K.P. for five days. K.P. is, I think, the most disliked job in the army. Sometimes I would hitch a ride in the A.T. 11 practice bombers. The bombardiers would sit in the nose of the airplane and with the Norden bomb sight calculate when to release the 100 pound bomb, which was filled with 95 pounds of sand and 5 pounds of powder. The powder would ignite and a camera would take pictures to record a hit.
I was assigned with 18 other met to the bombing range. There were five targets located from 50 to 150 miles from the field in a remote country. This was an interesting and a good job, but I signed up for airplane mechanic school.
I arrived at Shepherd filed Wichita Falls, Texas in March, ’43. Abe Marcusse was here, but left for Will Rogers field a week later. The two of us did see Caroline Koster who was an army nurse here. I was here for five months learning aircraft mechanics on the B26 medium twin engine bomber. It was so hot here we would walk a mile for a coke because the water tasted terrible. At a church in town I met Louise Rathke who became a good friend.
In Aug. ’43 I was transferred to Dodge City, Kansas B26 Air Base. This was a school that checked out pilots on the B26. These pilots had already finished all their advanced training and were now commissioned officers. They were here to learn how to fly the B26. They were taught how to take off and land, cut out an engine and fly with only one engine. Also to fly blind with only instruments to guide them and how to handle the plane in a stall and in night flying. The B26 was not a user-friendly aircraft. Rumor had it that more people were killed training in the B26 than in combat. We often flew formation flying. The pilots were often only 20 or 21 years old. When the instructors were not with them they sometimes acted like a kid in a sports car. Some of them loved to buzz the wheat fields or a house. About a hundred B26s were based here an din the time I was there I counted eleven crashes and 37 men killed.
My duties here were to look after 2R20 Seat Pea, check out the engines in the morning and do some repair work. June 16 I was checked out as crew chief and engineer, which mean that when my plane went up I flew with it. We looked forward to cross country flights. One was to San Francisco. The pilot wrote up an electrical problem, that grounded the plane, so we had three days to see San Francisco. We felt out numbered. The streets were filled with navy personnel. This is really a navy town. Another time we had a night flight to Memphis. As we came in for a landing I stood by the pilot to see the airport at night. I could see that the pilot was overshooting the runway so I went to my seat and put on my seat belt. The pilot had the brakes in landing. The tires blew out and the plane ground looped, breaking the front strut. We had a couple days there before they sent another plane to bring us back to Dodge City. For a while we had women pilots of the Ferry command. Another time we had French pilots.
Nov. 8, ’43 my first furlough home. It had been more than a year since I had been home. I walked in just at supper time. They were very surprised to see me. Sister Ruth had grown from a little girl into a young lady. This was a pleasant time. I visited all the relations and went out with some of the girls that had been writing to me. I took Mother and Aunt Agatha to Kalamazoo so they could visit. Gladys and two of her friends and I had a good time horse back riding.
Back to Dodge City: We had some good USO shows including Bob Hope, Jerry Coloma and others. Some 3 day passes to Oklahoma to see Andy Rodenhouse, hitch hiked Lawrence Kansas with Carl Zaruba to see his cousin at U. of Kansas. We had a good time. She was the one who sent Thressa a teddy bear from Uncle Dan and Aunt Rosie when David was born.
Mail call was always welcome and our family was very faithful. Dad included the sermon outline every week. Dad also gave both Ralph and myself a lifetime subscription to the Reader’s Digest. This was a generous gift I still enjoy.
Dodge City, Kansas, population about 10,000, is located in western Kansas on the old Santa Fe Trail. It was here in the days of the cowboy and the large cattle drives, the saloons the boot hill cemetery that Dodge was a wild place to be. Now it is a dull, desolate, dreary and windy city along the railroad track and the Arkansas River. The city and air base was surrounded by thousands of sections of wheat. From the air this looks like a giant checkerboard. This was not exactly the place to find fun or excitement. In the summer it was hot, and in the winter it was cold. I’m sorry, I should not complain Marve. At least it was better than New Guinea. I spent 22 months here.
Furlough August 1-15, 1944. Fred had just finished and graduated a second lieutenant. He was now a pilot B24s on a four engine bomber. We had made plans to spend this furlough together in Grand Rapids. What a great time we had. Fred had met Helen on his prior furlough so we double dated almost every night, I with several old girlfriends.
Now some entrees from my old service diary:
May 8, President Roosevelt died. May 11, cross country flight to Randolph field. May 25, 2R68 crashed, killing all four. PFC Keith was the engineer. May 29, 2R71 crashed, killing three. Charles Finly pilot. June 16, Ralph left for the army. The 16th rumor the field will close. Jul 2, I got one hour at the controls. July 7, I was trasnferred to Del Rio, Texas. July 14, I went to Villa Accuna, Mexico. Saw a movie, but could not understand it. July 28-29, Coady and I went to Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. We saw a bull fight and the killing of three Spanish bulls. Once of that is enough. August 6, President Truman announced the dropping of a secret atomic bomb on a Japanese City. August 14, the war is over!! Praise the Lord !!! September 7, was sent to Chanute field. Here I drove a truck to town to get registered mail. The army had a point system for discharging men. Those who had served overseas were discharged first. I was discharged February 14, 1946, Valentine’s Day. Lou Kuipers, Marve Donker, Nick Borst, Ralph Dik, and I all served in the armed forces of the United States.
AFTER SERVICE TIME
I received my Honorable Discharge from the Air Force Feb. 14, 1946 at Fort Sheridan IL. It hardly seemed real that I was now a civilian after almost 31/2 years in the Air Force. I drove home to G.R. in my 36 Ford on a cold and slippery day. Then mother and I drove to the train station to pick up Thressa, Louie and Baby David. They also were coming in by train.
I started work at Bill Pastoor Ford Inc. Jim Miller, my former boss was no the service manager. At that time I did not intend to spend 41 years as an auto mechanic, but once I started it was not easy to change. I took a civil service test and passed and was called to start as a mail carrier, but changed my mind at the last minute, because at the time it was paying less. Latter I was sorry. I could have retired five years sooner.
Helen Ruiter (Fred’s girlfriend) Marthleen and I went again to the train station to get Fred. I had not seen Fred since we had a furlough together 22 months before. The train station sure was a busy place in those days, during the war and shortly after.
While in the service I started smoking and when I came back home from the service I was 24 years old and moved back with my folks. I smoked in the house and I know my parents detested smoking. I am sorry about that. I had a lot to learn. I am sure my parents were praying that I find a Christian girl, get married and move out.
THIS IS HOW IT CAME ABOUT
Many of my friends were now married and after some dating I still did not find the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. On Sept. 26, 1946 my sister Gladys married Marvin Donker at the 5th Ref. Church. Our cousin Gladys Schuring was the wife of Rev. John Schuring from Fremont. He was asked to perform the wedding. At the wedding I sat next to Gladys Schuring and she asked where my firl friend was. I said I did not have a steady girl.
About a week later I received a letter inviting me to tea Oct. 5, 1946 at the parsonage in Fremont at 2:30 Sat. When I arrived there Gladys said there was a girl in the church across the street practicing the organ that she wanted me to meet. So Gladys brought Carolyn over for tea and then I went to church with her while she played the organ. I asked if I could take her to dinner. Yes, but first she had to go home. When we got to the farm house around the big round kitchen table were about a dozen of her relatives that I was introduced to. They gave me the skeptical eye, and I was not sure I passed inspection. This was the baby of the family 20 years old and going out into the world with a person they did not know, but then I was introduced by their minister’s wife.
We had dinner at Chuck’s Place on the old U.S. 31 south of Grand Haven. Then we drove to the state park and walked out to the end of the pier. It was a beautiful night. The next Wednesday we went out again. That sort of set a pattern Wednesdays and Saturdays for us to see each other.
This courtship involved 200 plus miles a week. A couple of car accidents, one that I rolled the car over end over end and completely demolished my beloved 36 Ford that had taken me on big trip out west and so many other places. I also had to drive the bad roads to Fremont and one time was snowed in at Carolyn’s home and had to be pulled out with horses.
For Christmas 1946 I gave Carol a cedar chest. That seemed to be the custom at that time.
On Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day I gave Carol an engagement right.
I had replaced the 36 Ford with a 1940 Packard. This was a wonderful car.
On May 1, 1947 we were married in the Fremont Church by Rev. John O. Schuring.
Best man was my brother Ralph. Bridesmaid was Joan Van Goor.
On our honeymoon trip we went to N.Y. City and up the Empire State Bldg., at that time the world’s tallest and went to the top of the Statue of Liberty and many other sights.
At a hotel in N.Y. we saw for the first time a T.V. set in the lobby. It was about 5 by 7 inches and not too good a picture but T.V. would in a short time revolutionize the way we see things. We went to Washington D.C., Independence Hall, Philadelphia and Nigeria Falls. I found out that Carol is a very smart person, but she could not read maps on our Honeymoon and she still can’t.
After the war housing was in very short supply. I finally found an upstairs for rent at 1022 Grandville Ave. This house is still at that location, but even at that time it was in poor shape. The floors were so uneven that if you put a ball on the floor the ball would roll to the lowest spot. We bought an oil heater for heat and we had a gas coil for hot water. The gas heater had no control, we lit it by match. We had to remember to turn it off before it got so hot it could blow the house up. When we left the house we had to remember TURN OFF THE WATER HEATERS!
I sold my 1940 Packard, because we wanted to save money for a house. I then bought a 1932 Chevrolet. Carol had sold her 1938 Plymouth just before we married. I was making one dollar an hour at work. Carol got a book keeping job at ROOT AND Co., a dry cleaning supply co. She took the bus to work down town on Ionia Ave. On her first day at work she walked to see me at PASTOOR’S and said she was going to quit because they were critical and she did not like them. I said give them one week try and then if you still feel the same o.k. By that time they found out she knew her bookkeeping and they could trust her. They became good friends and corresponded for years after she stopped working. Carol had 15 dollars a week for all the living expenses.
On Jan 1, 1949 New Year’s Day, we were blessed with our first lovely baby ANN CAROL DIK. We have good memories of those days, walking her in the stroller and taking her to the park to play. We read to her so often she soon knew the stories by heart.
Feb 25, 1950 was a sub zero day. There was a gas explosion in the basement of the house across the street, the fireman were checking it out, and Carol watching through the window when the store blew apart. Other houses on both sides of the street had gas in the basements, so we were all evacuated for five days. We had to live with parents for five days.
We thought it time to look for a house of our own in a better neighborhood. In March-1951 we bought a new two bedroom house with expansion attic at 1457 Edward S.E. Later I made one big bedroom upstairs and also had a garage built. The house with garage, street and attic cost about 13,000 dollars.
ROGER CARL was born 2-15-52. We were so thankful to have a new house in a good area, close to Sylvan school and Boston Sq. church. Some of our neighbors were Wobbemas, Kingmas, Browers, Matthews, Datemas and the Quists.
We lived in this house for ten years. GLENN ALAN was born while we lived here, Nov. 16, 1956. Ann had a baby rabbit and without our permission stuffed it in a small shoe box and took it to school for show and tell. Roger lost the end of his finger by putting it under the chain and sprocket of Andy’s bike. Roger and Andy Wobbema were riding their bikes when hit by a drunk driver and Andy was killed and Roger was injured. This was a very sad time. We were thankful Roger was not killed, but felt so terrible for the Wobbemas.
We lived on Edward St. for ten years and then had the house guilt at 2200 Rosewood S.E. MARY ELLEN was born here on Aug. 29-1966.
AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY
11-3-98 To be read at Funeral
A few thoughts and words of love to our children and grandchildren.
Your mother and I love you very much. We consider you as gifts from God to love and bring up in a Christian home to the best of our abilities. We have not always been the best examples for you. We too have our sinful human nature, that is not always very good. But what we did was out of love for you and what we thought was best for you at the time.
We are thankful that all of you have achieved a good education that far exceeds your mother’s and mine. You have all done well and have worked very hard. We take joy in this
We also know that the most important and lasting achievement is spiritual, that is our relationship to God. Who is Jesus to us? Is He our Lord and Savoir? We can have the sure knowledge and the assurance that at the end of this life we will have a home in heaven with Jesus and all our loved ones who have gone on before us. We desire this for all our children and grandchildren.
We can not earn salvation. It is not what we have done, it is what Christ has done. He loved us so much that He left his Heavenly home to come down as a baby and lived on this earth for 33 years to give us the good news and then to suffer and die, and then arise again to pay for all our sins, if we will accept Him into our lives and live for him.
When we got to bed at night it is a wonderful thought and peace of mind to have the knowledge to know we have a heavenly home awaiting us.
A FEW MORE THOUGHTS
When a young couple are in love, they want to spend all their time together.
When we love Jesus we want to spend time with His people.= Go to church.
The Bible says {What does it profit a man if he gains the world and looses his soul}.
Song
My Jesus I love Thee; I know Thou art mine. For Thee all the follies of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved thee my Jesus is now.
Hymn
Sign the wondrous love of Jesus, sing His mercy and His grace
In the mansions bright and blessed He’ll prepare for us a place.
When we get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.
CHRISTIANITY HAS NEVER BEEN A SPECTATOR SPORT
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.
John 14: 1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Happiness held is the seed…happiness shared is the flower.”—Anonymous
Song: It is well with my soul
Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
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Obituary Notice:
DIK - Daniel Dik, age 89, of Grandville, peacefully entered eternity on Monday, February 21, 2011. Dan was born to Albert and Hattie Dik on October 28, 1921. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Gladys (Dik) Donker. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 63 years, the love of his life, Caroline; four children, Ann (William) Swagman, Roger (Pearl) Dik, Glenn (Deb) Dik, Mary (Steve) Adams; nine grandchildren, Joel, Kirstin, Kyle, Jessica, Brian, Jeffrey, Tyler, Austin, Amanda; nine great grandchildren; sisters and brother, Thressa Kuipers, Ralph (Donna) Dik, Ruth (Nick) Borst; sister-in-law, Mabel Van Zweden; many nieces and nephews. Dan proudly served our country during WWII as a member of the US Army Air Corps. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. on Thursday at Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, 4375 Ivanrest SW, Grandville, with Rev. Philip Boender officiating. Interment at Grandville Cemetery. Relatives and friends may meet the family on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville) 4145 Chicago Dr. and Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. prior to the service at church. The family would like to express their appreciation to the great staff at LifeHOUSE Crystal Springs for all their compassion and loving care during his brief stay. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to C.R.W.R.C. or The Missionary Fund of Fellowship C.R.C. in Grandville. Condolences may be sent online at: www.mkdfuneralhome.com . Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf
Addendum:
Youtube tribute video (put together by my aunt)
Daniel Dik Tribute
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