De Jong, Rev. Benjamin R. - 1898-1987

DEJONG

Posted By: Linda Vander Linden-Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/18/2011 at 16:49:13

Wheaton, Ill. - The Rev. Benjamin R. DeJong, 89, who pastored churches in four states over three decades and ministered in hundreds of others in the Midwest, died Thursday afternoon, December 24 in Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield, IL, following a brief illness. Affectionately known as "Uncle Ben" he had resided in Wheaton, Ill for the past eleven years.

Born May 31, 1898 in a cave house in LeMars, the son of immigrants from Friesland, Mr. De Jong began his career as the principal of a two room Christian school in Boyden in 1923, and in 1929 became principal of a four room Christian school in Evergreen Park, Ill. It was during his three year employment there that he believed God called him into the ministry. Because he had no formal theological training to immediately begin a pastorate, Mr. De Jong sought the advice of several Christian leaders, including Norman Camp and Wendell Loveless at Moody Bible Institute: Dr. Harry Ironside, pastor of Moody Memorial Church; and Dr. William McCarrell, pastor of Cicero Bible Church. All encouraged him, pointing out that they themselves had begun preaching without any formal training.

In 1932 with his wife, Minnie, whom he had married September 5, 1924, he traded his T-model Ford for a second hand Chevrolet and drove to Rock Valley, where his mother and his sister Susie lived. Here a Presbyterian preacher told him of struggling churches that could not afford a full time pastor. He selected a Presbyterian church in Willow Lake, SD in the heart of the Dust Bowl, where he was ordained and ministered with his wife and two sons, without a fixed salary, managing largely on gifts of food from churches in Iowa.

Following the death of his wife on June 3, 1976, Mr. DeJong moved to Wheaton and lived in an apartment added to the home of his oldest son, Kenneth and his wife, Pearl. For several years he served as a parttime visitation pastor for the Wheaton Bible Church, enjoyed calling on hospital patients and shut ins, conducted a Bible class at the Parkway Terrace Nursing Home and visited patients at the Du Page Convelescent Center.

Mr. DeJong is survived by his two sons, Kenneth & Robert DeJong, both of Wheaton, ILL; five grandchildren, Donald of Lowell, MI, Sandra DeJong of Chicago; David & Daniel of Wheatong and Scott of St. Charles, Ill, and four great grandchildren. A sister Jennie De Jong of Sioux Center and a brother Rev. Frank De Jong of Ripon, CA.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Berend & Fokeltje De Jong; five sisters, Grace Ruisch; Susie Vander Bok; Etta Ruisch; Alice Niekerk, Maggie Brunsting and three brothers, Robert, Otto and Herbert De Jong.

Visitation was held Saturday, Dec. 26 from 5-9 P.M., at the Hanerhoff-Hultgren Funeral Home, Wehaton, ILL. Memorial service was Monday, Dec. 28 at the Sutter Salem Bible Church. Burial was in the cemetery behind the church. The family suggests contributions can be sent to Benjamin R. De Jong Memorial, Box 1, Wheaton, Ill 60829

Sioux County Index, December 30, 1987
NOTE: The obit contains all the churches he served and Boards he served on.