Dykstra, Dick 1923-2015

DYKSTRA, VIS, LEMS, JACOBSMA, JANSMA

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting (email)
Date: 1/2/2016 at 16:41:14

Mr. Dick Dykstra, age 92, of Hull, passed away on Thursday, December 3, 2015, at Aspen Heights Assisted Living in Hull.

There will be a funeral service on Monday, December 7, at 10:30am, at Hope Christian Reformed Church in Hull, with the Rev. Todd Zuidema officiating. Interment will follow the service at the Hope Cemetery in Hull, with military rites by the Offutt Air Force Base Honor Guard.

Visitation with the family will be on Sunday, from 1:30pm to 4:30pm, at the CHURCH. Arrangements are with the Oolman Funeral Home in Hull.

Dick was one of twelve children born to Ed and Henrietta (Vis) Dykstra on January 10, 1923. He was raised in Perkins and graduated from Hull high school. He enrolled at Northwestern Junior College in Orange City and then enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. Without telling Dick, Ed Dykstra convinced the recruiter to allow him to finish his two year degree and fatten up before beginning training as a navigator.

Dick served his country as a navigator on the B-24 Liberator. He flew on 35 missions over Germany and France before being commissioned to fly troops back to the United States at the end of the war in Europe. On the train on the way home from the service, he met another returning soldier who was enrolling at South Dakota State University Pharmacy School. Dick decided pharmacy might work for him, too.

During his senior year, Dick married Grace Lems on November 11, 1947, in Hull. He soon accepted his first pharmacy position in Hudson, South Dakota. Later his family moved to Orange City. In 1951, they moved to Hull, where he and Grace operated the Hull Pharmacy while raising their seven children. Over the years, the Dykstra house was home to several of Dick and Grace’s siblings, nieces, nephews, boarders who attended Western Christian High School, and the Dykstra children’s friends. Grace passed away on January 12, 1997, in Sheldon, after 49 years of marriage.

On October 23, 2001, Dick married Anna Bertha (Jacobsma) Jansma in Hull, where they continued to live. In January of 2015, he became a resident of Aspen Heights. Anna passed away on August 31, 2015, in Hull, after thirteen years of marriage.

Dick was a founding member of the Hope Christian Reformed Church, where he served on the consistory. He also belonged to the Wegman-Koele American Legion Post, the Hull Business and Professional Club, the Hull City Council, school boards of directors, school building committees, and the Hope Haven Board of Trustees in Rock Valley.

Dick enjoyed bicycling, bowling and golfing until age 90. He loved his grandchildren and never grew tired of baseball in the back yard. Dick enjoyed reading, especially Dr. Seuss, with a child on his lap. He was famous for his original rhyming songs, hugs, kisses, and genuine kindness.

Survivors include six children, Dr. Ed Dykstra, and his wife, Linda, and Dennis Dykstra, and his wife, Lorna, all of Iowa City; Richard Dykstra, and his wife, Nancy, of Hull; Emily, and her husband, Richard Ogle, of Hinton; Robert Dykstra, and his wife, Jackie, of North Liberty; and Laura, and her husband, Steve Heitritter, of Boyden; sixteen grandchildren, Carrie Dykstra, Camille Dykstra, Kate Vos, Ben Dykstra, Amber Harrold, Tressa Dykstra-VanVoorst, Anne Gilbertson, Rick Dykstra, Jason Dykstra, Allison Dykstra, Paul Heitritter, Joe Heitritter, Emma Heitritter, Thomas Heitritter, Shega Heitritter, and Megan Heitritter; seventeen great-grandchildren; a brother and his wife, Harold and Beverly Dykstra, of Rock Valley; two sisters-in-law, Eldoris Dykstra and Grace Dykstra, both of Hull; and nine step-children.

In addition to his wives, he was preceded in death by a son, Paul; a great-granddaughter, Ella; and ten brothers and sisters.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.