Hertiage

Tena Tjeerdsma Admiraal ’65
May 8, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Cleo Aldrich ex’50
April 22, 2017, Nashville, Tenn.

Frances Zeilstra Anderson ’49
Jan. 23, 2017, Channahon, Ill.

John Asma ’57
May 16, 2017, Portage, Mich.

Milton Beelen ’52
June 13, 2017, Holland, Mich.

Chester Bergman ’51
May 9, 2017, Jefferson City, Tenn.

Rose Carroll Bloem ’49
April 21, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Peter Boelens ’56
Peter received Calvin’s Distinguished
Alumni Award in 1978.
June 9, 2017, Vicksburg, Miss.

Donald Bos ex’55
Dec. 3, 2016, Bozeman, Mon.

Florence Koning Bosscher ex’56
July 5, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Betty Hoolsema Botting ’50
July 3, 2017, Ada, Mich.

Lewis Brasser ex’56
May 14, 2017, Brookfield, Wis.

Cornelius Brouwer ’53
May 26, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Nellie Borger Brouwer ’52
April 10, 2017, Willmar, Minn.

Roy Bultman ’47
June 30, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Bylsma ’47
April 11, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Johnita Heslinga Clinton ’43
March 18, 2017, Fairfield, Calif.

Lucy Schaapman DeHeer ’60
Jan. 9, 2017, Puyallup, Wash.

Michael DeVries ’58
May 27, 2017, Holland, Mich.

Clarence Doornbos ’62
July 15, 2017, Caledonia, Mich.

Donald Faber ’61
May 27, 2017, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Janet Kwantes Feenstra ’42
April 26, 2017, Manistee, Mich.

William Fles ’67
July 5, 2017, Jenison, Mich.

Mary Nykamp Geurink ’67
July 15, 2017, Walhalla, Mich.

Charles Haack ’50
Nov. 8, 2016, Lombard, Ill.

Stuart Hamstra ’61
April 13, 2017, Miami, Fla.

Clare Hempel ex’56
April 27, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Claudia Wobbema Hoffman ’47
May 4, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Earl Holkeboer ex’54
April 26, 2017, New York, N.Y.

Evelyn Van Noord Holwerda ’44
May 6, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jane Berghuis Hull ’67
May 16, 2017, Grand Ledge, Mich.

Dorothy Dykstra Kass ’51
June 21, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Thelma Huizenga Knol ’49
July 13, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.Frances Burghgraef Kok ’53

Frances Burghgraef Kok ’53
April 14, 2017, Lynden, Wash.

Bill Krommendyk ’54
April 22, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Herschel Kuipers’64
May 1, 2017, Holland, Mich.

Patricia Datema Lipscomb ’48
May 12, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Peterson ’51
March 3, 2017, Lansing, Mich.

Paul Pettinga ’52
June 3, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Lucille Klassen Poll ’50
May 22, 2017, Fremont, Mich.

John “Jack” Post, Jr. ’65
May 7, 2017, Bradenton, Fla.

Terry Dick Sander ’60
June 14, 2017, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Robert Settergren ’51
April 15, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Anna “Gerry” Rypma Slagter ex’55
Nov. 2, 2016, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Samuel VanderJagt ’49
April 29, 2017, Horicon, Wis.

Douglas Vander Kamp ex’42
May 3, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Janice Vander Bent Vander Molen ’63
May 14, 2017, Grandville, Mich.

Mearl Van Diepenbos ’64
June 20, 2017, Jenison, Mich.

Dorothy Van Englehoven Van Wyk ex’58
Nov. 16, 2016, Pella, Iowa

Frances Vander May Van Halsema ’50
July 14, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jay Van Houten ’49
April 14, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Myrtle Van Laar ’48
May 26, 2017, Silver Spring, Md.

Cornelius Van Spronsen ’61
April 11, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Betty Geurink Verhage ex’59
Sept. 24, 2016, Moses Lake, Wash.

Philip Versluis ex’55
May 25, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Ruth Blauw Vredevelde ’51
May 31, 2017, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Jack Westerhof ’61
Dec. 27, 2016, Sarnia, Ontario

1960's

John Haan ’68
April 23, 2017, Chicago, Ill.

1970's

Kathryn Assink Doezema ex’71
April 27, 2017, Kentwood, Mich.

David Dykhouse ’70
May 29, 2017, Ypsilanti, Mich.

Stanley Hoksbergen ’74
June 10, 2017, Holland, Mich.

Bruce Mulder ’70
June 24, 207, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Adrianus “Jos” TerHaar ’70
June 19, 2017, Jenison, Mich.

Peter Terpsma ’73
April 15, 2017, Mears, Mich.

1980's

Julie Kuipers-Sandri ’80
Dec. 20, 2016, New York, N.Y.

Kenric Van Wyk ’89
Jan. 29, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Craig Ver Burg ’85
April 6, 2017, Morley, Mich.

1990's

Edna Johnston Schorr ex’94
July 7, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.

2000's

Kristina Ponstein Moelker ’02
July 9, 2017, Allendale, Mich.

Edward Ericson 1939–2017

Longtime Calvin English professor Edward Ericson once described himself as a man who “aimed to be a high school English teacher and missed.”

Instead, he spent his entire career in higher education, teaching in the English departments of Hope College, Westmont College, Northwestern College and ultimately Calvin, where he spent 26 years.

Ericson, 77, died April 29.

Originally a scholar of 17th century English literature, and John Milton in particular, Ericson picked up, for casual reading, the novels of Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

He wrote about Solzhenitsyn as an author with a Christian understanding of human character. A single article led to many and, in time, several books. In 1983, Ericson worked alongside the Russian exile, making final revisions to Ericson’s abridgment of The Gulag Archipelago,.

He was awarded Calvin’s Faith and Learning Award in 2009, recognizing his “excellence in teaching, spiritual impact, concern for students and lasting impact.”

“He was deeply committed to the idea and the ideals of a Christian liberal arts college education,” said longtime colleague Jim Vanden Bosch. “… Ed was an earnest convert to the kind of Calvinism he discovered at Calvin.”

“I wonder if Ed knew just how massive his presence and influence was: In the classroom students adored him and he became the model teacher for many; in scholarship he was both prolific and wide-ranging; as chair of the English department he administered with purpose and precision,” added another former colleague Dean Ward. “He did everything you could want a college faculty member to do and did it all brilliantly.”

Ericson is survived by his wife, Jan; children Bill and Edward (Melinda); and five grandchildren.