Kooiman, Gerrit P., 1884-1958

KOOIMAN, TENCATE, VELLINGA, BRINK, FRERIKS

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 4/1/2022 at 21:50:25

Born: December 21, 1884
Died: July 12, 1958

From the Boyden Reporter, July 17, 1958:

Word was received in Boyden early this week of the passing of Mr. Gerrit Kooima of Redlands, Calif. Mr. Kooima died in his barber shop at Redlands, Saturday, while cutting the hair of a youngster.

Funeral services were held at Redlands Wednesday with interment in the cemetery there. He is survived by the widow, the former Tracy Vellinga of Orange City, and three children, Peter, Claire and Edna (Mrs. Youngman) all of Redlands.

* * * * * * * * * *

From the Sioux Center News, July 17, 1958, Orange City news:

The death of Gerrit Kooiman, 73, of Redlands, Calif., was reported by relatives at Edgerton, to Orange Citians, Saturday. Mr. Kooiman passed away suddenly at his home in Redlands from a heart attack. The Kooiman brothers left from Edgerton to attend the funeral which was held at Redlands Wednesday. Surviving are his widow, two sons and one daughter, married and living at Redlands.

* * * * * * * * * *

From the Alton Democrat, July 17, 1958:

G. Kooiman Rites At Redlands, Calif.

Word was received Sunday morning of the sudden death of Gerrit Kooiman at his home in Redlands, Calif., following a heart attack. Mr. Kooiman is the step-father of Don and Bill Freriks and formerly lived at Orange City and Boyden. The burial will be at Redlands.

* * * * * * * * * *

From the Redlands Daily Facts, July 14, 1958:

Gerrit Kooiman Passes Away

Gerrit Peter Kooiman, 73, a resident of Redlands for the past seven years, died Saturday. Mr. Kooiman came to California from Leota, Minnesota, where he formerly made his home. He was a native of Iowa.

In addition to his wife, Mrs. Tracy Kooiman, who lives at the family home, 429 Eureka street, there are two sons and one daughter surviving. They are Peter Kooiman, Claire Kooiman and Mrs. Edna Youngsma, all of Redlands.

Brothers and sisters are John and William Kooiman of Edgerton, Minn.; Abe Kooiman of Leota, Minn.; Mrs. Mary Gilman, Mrs. Sebee Gulker and Mrs. Marjorie Swartz, all of Edgerton, Minn.; Miss Jennie Kooiman of Morris, South Dakota; and Mrs. Minnie Eldersveldt of Muskegon, Mich. Mr. Kooiman also had eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Bethany Reformed church, Rev. John Muller, pastor officiating. Interment will follow in Hillside cemetery, F. Arthur Cortner chapel in charge.

* * * * * * * * * *

RESEARCH NOTES

His FindaGrave.com page has Gerrit Peter Kooiman, born 21 Dec 1884 in Orange City, Sioux County, Iowa; died 12 July 1958 in Redlands, San Bernardino County, California; buried in Hillside Memorial Park, Redlands. Parents Pieter Kooiman (1859-1934) and Cornelia Brink (Kooiman) Sol. Two siblings listed: Abe John Kooiman (1897-1960) and William P. Kooiman (1898-1978). Wife Carrie Ten Cate Kooiman (1890-1940); no reference to his second wife. Two children listed: Peter James Kooiman (1909-1962) and Julia Edna Kooiman Youngsma (1917-2003)

His World War I draft registration card (Sept. 1918) shows him (age 33) farming in Leota, Nobles County, Minn.; wife Carrie Kooiman; medium height and build, gray eyes, black hair.

In the 1920 census he (age 35), Carrie (29), and children Peter (10) and Julia (2) are farming in Leota. The 1925 Iowa state census shows the family in Boyden: Gerrit P. (40), Carrie (34), children Peter J. (15), Edna (7), and Clare (3), all born in Minnesota. In 1930 and 1940 the family (1930) and Gerrit and Carrie (1940) are still in Boyden, where he is a barber with his own shop.

His World War II draft registration card (April 1942) shows him age 57, still working in his barber shop in Boyden; 5’8” tall, 170 pounds, hazel eyes, brown hair, light complexion, appendix operation scar; the person who will always know his address is Paul McCrum, Boyden.

His first wife, Carrie, died in 1940 (see her obituary, posted separately). News notes in Sioux County newspapers show Gerrit Kooiman, age 64, of Boyden marrying Tracy Freriks, age 57, of Orange City at Hawarden on December 19, 1949. In August 1950 he sold his barber shop in Boyden, then had a barber shop in his home in Orange City from May 1951 until about May 1952. By 1953 the Kooimas were living in Redlands, California.

The Sioux County marriage register for 1909/1910 shows Theresa Vellinga, age 19, marrying Dick Frericks, age 24, at Carnes (the groom’s home) on May 26, 1910. Her FindaGrave page shows her (as Tracy Vellinga Freriks) having had two husbands: Dick Freriks (1886-1947) and Hessel Van Eizenga (1891-1972, married 1960); no reference to Gerrit Kooiman. She died at Orange City in 1980 and was buried there.