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Welcome to the HCHS Class of 1962 Website. We're glad you found us!

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Announcements

On the eve of our 60th class reunion, we are sad to announce the passing of our classmate Helene VandenBrink-VanKampen on August 28, 2022.  Click here for an obituary.

Our 60th class reunion will be held on Friday, September 30, 2022 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Holland Christian High School.  The high school is located at 956 Ottawa Ave in Holland.  Please use the west door for entry.  (We have been told there are no sporting events at the school on the 30th so parking should not be problem.)

This will be a very casual event.  There will be no formal program.  Just mingle.  The goal is to renew old friendships with as many classmates as possible.

Other information:

    > There is no need to RSVP 

    > Spouses are welcome

    > Please use the name tags which will be provided

    > Pizza and drinks will be provided

With sorrow, we announce the passing of classmate Mary Ellen Kouw Staat.  Click here for her "In Memory" page.  

Sadly we are announcing the passing of classmates Nancy Lubbers Schutt and Ken Diepenhorst. Click here for Nancy's In Memory page.  Click here for Ken's In Memory page.    

Once again, we are sad to announce the passing of our classmate Donna Tuls Skiles, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.  May peace, love, and joy surround her family and friends.  Click here for her "In Memory" page. 

Our friend and classmate Paul Tuls passed away suddenly on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 of an apparent heart attack on a golf course in Spring Lake, Michigan. Wishing God's peace that passes all understanding to his wife Jan, his family and his many friends. Click here for his In Memory page.

Very sad news from Indiana.  On April 10th, 2020, David M. VanPutten, 76, passed away from complications following surgery after being diagnosed with bile duct cancer. He went home to our Lord & Savior surrounded by his family. Click here for his In Memory page.

Such sad news. Our friend and classmate Nancy Boylon Bolt passed away on Thursday, November 14 in Grand Rapids. She was a very special classmate and friend to so many people, posting dozens and dozens of birthday wishes on this, our class website.

It's now a double loss, in that her husband and our classmate Marty passed away on December 25, 2009. May the peace that passes all understanding be with her family. And all of us.

Click here for her In Memory and Obituary page.

We are indeed sorry to announce the passing of our friend and classmate Barbara Lynn Hoeksema Van Laar on May 27, 2019. Click here for her "In Memory" page.

In the deep mid-winter, we are happy to announce that John Hartemink has joined our website.  Check out his profile and send him a welcoming message.  And John, when you get a chance, fill out some more information on your profile page and let us know what's happened in your life since we graduated in 1962.

109 classmates have now joined our website. Other interesting numbers:  our website began 8/16/11, our homepage has been viewed 9527 times, and 1869 messages have been sent from classmate to classmate.

Since a few of you expressed interest and even offered money, here's an update on Civic Center bleacher boards.  I called and at the moment, they do not have any, but they put my name on a waiting list in case some become available.  I still think it would be cool to have HCHS Class of 1962 engraved on it and hold it during our 55th reunion class photo, August 24, 2017 at Tunnel Park.  Dan Joldersma

                 

Here is some fun news!

Remember Friday night hoops at the Civic? Some of you may know that the Civic Center will undergo an extensive renovation beginning in March. Last night Holland Christian played the last game in the “old” building, outscoring Northpointe Christian of Grand Rapids 63-51.

Two important shots occurred at the game: a final thunder dunk and a sentimental halftime 3 point shot by Richard Nagelkirk, a team manager for the year 2000 team. Richard was given a rack of about a dozen balls. Click here to find out how many shots it took before he made one!

If you are really into Civic Center nostalgia, you can buy one of the balcony seats or one of the bleacher boards for your den. I'm thinking Jack Ludema should hang a board along with our class banner in his garage, and carve in “HCHS Class of 1962.”  And display it at our 55th class reunion August 24, 2017 at Tunnel Park.  Anyone in for $10 to make that happen?

Here is some good news:  Larry Grassmid has become the 106th classsmate to join our website.  Welcome Larry!  If you are in contact with other classmates who are not on our website, please encourage them to join us.  

Mystery solved:  The recent photo posted on this website of Kyle Steigenga, who shoots hoops at Cornerstone University, is indeed the grandson of Paul Steigenga.  Check below to see the resemblance.  Thanks to Jim Fredericks for the information.

                

Our sympathies to our classmate John Konynenbelt on the passing of his wife and our classmate Mary Lou Sharpe Konynenbelt on Monday, December 19, 2016.  Click here for her "In Memory" page.  Thanks to Judy Lamar Baerman for the news, even though it is indeed sad.

Sad once again to announcing the passing of our classmate Roger Langejans, November 20, 2016. Click here for his "In Memory" page. Thanks to Donna Tuls Skiles for letting us know.  This is now the 28th of our classmates who has died.  

 We've learned from a couple of our classmates that Phyllis Baker Sharpe passed away this afternoon, September 24, in Orlando, Florida.  We will post more information and an obituary when it becomes available. Sad news indeed.  May the peace that passes understanding be with her family and friends. Click here for her "In Memory" page.

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Sad news again.  We've received notice of the passing of our classmate Gerald Bergman.  Click here for an obituary.

The Holland Sentinel recently had news of the passing of Edgar Fredericks, brother of our classmate and class officer Jim Fredericks. Edgar was a year ahead of us at HCHS and made fine contributions at the local, state, national, and international levels, as well as to HCHS. Jim is quoted extensively in the very interesting article which is a fine tribute to his brother. Our sympathies to Jim and the entire Fredericks family.

Here is a link to the article.   

We have received notice of the passing of our classmate John Dahm.  Click here for an obituary.

In addition to looking for band and typing rooms, old lockers and telephones hidden under staircases, a few of us played Cookie Monster at our “Coffee and Cookies” gathering at Evergreen Commons on September 18, 2015. Click here for a few photos of the happy event of connecting and reconnecting with our trim and young-looking classmates. A few classmates came with “show and tell,” including Gerard Vanderwall's collection of classmate photos and Don Mannes who wowed us with his wood-burning truck. See the story and link below. Thanks to Carol Hoek Keen for suggesting the gathering and making it happen.


Diehard Cookies Monsters who would not leave untill the cookies were gone!

Classmate in the news:  Don Mannes has received some national headlines from a story circulated by the Associated Press on his wood-burning truck.  Several of us saw it at our September 18, 2015 gathering at Evergreen Commons.  If you know of other classmates in the news, please send information to Dan Joldersma.

We have received notice of the passing of our classmate John Dahm.  Click here for an obituary.

Click here for a cool photo of Lucilee De Roo's birthday party.  Who knows what year it is?  If you have other photos of "the good ol' days" please send them to djoldersma@gmail.com.  Happy summer all!

Classmates in the news:

The Holland Sentinel reports that Merle and Karen Vander Sluis recently traveled to Guatemala on a mission trip to build houses and medical clinics.

From Karen: "Merle and I went to Guatemala this past week with a group of 40 people of which 30 were from West Michigan. Merle built houses and I worked in a clinic after traveling by 15 passenger vans. I didn't know if we could do the work and climb the hills but all went well."

If you have news, please click on the "Let's Talk" link to the left and let us know what's new in your life.  

We've just received notice that Anna Huizenga West died on Saturday, November 15, 2014.  Click here for an obituary.  

Good news from Jim and Marj Newhouse:  

They are celebrating 50 years of marriage on Thursday, November 6, 2014. They were married by Jim's uncle Rev. Sid Newhouse, at Drenthe Christian Reformed Church, a church once pastored by Marty Bolt's father. Jim and Marty were good friends when they were little boys. Congratulations Jim and Marj!

By the numbers....

08/16/2011= this website was launched

100= number of our classmates who have signed up for this website

6317= the number of times the home page has been viewed

1840= the number of messages sent between classmates

Hey folks, send us your happy news also!  Like this one from the Holland Sentinel: 

Alan and Marcia Elgersma of Hamilton are celebrating 40 years of marriage by going on a family trip to Homestead, FL, for the Nascar Championship, followed by a short time in the Florida Keys.

The couple was married November 1, 1974 in Holland. Mrs. Elgersma is the former Marcia Tuls (Mulder). Alan attended Holland High School and Marcia graduated from Holland Christian High. The couple has owned and operated Al's Excavating, Inc. for 38 years, and they are members of Haven Reformed Church in Hamilton.

Their children are Scott and Laurie Mulder, Steve and Renea Mulder, and Sara O'Connor, all of Hamilton, Peggy Vasquez of Holland, and SuAnn and Andy Elgersma of Allegan. They have ten grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

 

Our joint 70th birthday celebration was held at Tunnel Park on August 6 and was loads of fun. Many of us came in shorts but the smart ones left with sweatshirts. Great burgers (thanks Chef Ludema), great passing dishes (thanks all of you), great balloons (thanks Jouse), lots of drinks (thanks Jim Fredericks), a tasty cake (even though Marcia's dog put a paw print on it) and lots of time reconnecting with classmates. Thanks also for your cash donations; we expect they will exceed expenses, so as always, we hope to make a donation to the HCHS scholarship fund.

Photos of the happy event are now posted, thanks mostly to Dick and Sue Landman.  Click here to see them and to find out who had a birthday on the actual day of the party.

Welcome to our newest website member, Dorothy Dykstra VandenBrink.  For those who love round numbers, Dorothy is the 100th classmate to join our website.  Seems like she should win a trip to Hawaii or a new Lexus or maybe two scoops of ice cream at our 70th birthday bash this summer.  Welcome Dorothy!

We just received notice of the passing of Mr. Clarence Pott.  Click here for more information.

More sad news!  We've just learned of the passing of our classmate Mary Mulder Hinken on Wednesday, January 22, 2014.  Click on the "In Memory" button on the left-hand side of this page for details and obituaries.

Classmates in the news:  Carol Hoek Keen reports that Sandy Holwerda Klop will be the featured speaker at a workshop of the Lighthouse Quilt Guild in Grand Haven on Monday, November 11, from 9 am to 4 pm.  Sandy lives in California and has done extensive work in designing fabrics and has published two books on quilting.  You can read more about Sandy on her American Jane Patterns website.  Welcome back to Michigan Sandy, if only briefly.

     

Classmates in the news:  8 of our classmates welcomed Sandy Holwerda Klop to a quilting workshop in Grand Haven on Monday, Nov. 10.  
 
Phyllis Jousma, Beth Bouwman, Esther Brink, Carol Windemuller,
Nancy Boylan, Sandy Holwerda, Karen Homkes, Carol Hoek. 

Classmates in the News:  Jon & Carol Tuls, 50th wedding anniversary.

More sad news!  We've just learned of the passing of our classmate Karen Barense Hoezee on Thursday, June 20, 2013.  Click here to visit her memorial page.

 

We've received sad news of the passing of our classmate Mary Hoogstrate Wetzel on May 27, 2013.  Click here for an obituary from the Grand Rapids Press.

I saw this photo of Mr. Phil Persenaire recently in the Holland Sentinel.  I called his home on 32nd Street and verified with his wife that it is indeed our beloved HCHS teacher of 50 years ago.  

Let's all hope that when we are his age, we will be able to blow snow, or better yet, that we'll spend winters in Florida or Arizona!  (Dan Joldersma)

The 50th reunion is now history and by all accounts was a major success.  150 classmates and spouses attended! As Marsha Tuls Elgersma said recently, "Dinner was delicious, the setting in the rotunda was perfect, the gathering in the main hall was so enhanced by the name and picture badges, the beautiful memorial board, the punch bowl table, and the memory board and dresses were fun." And the Marsha-directed program was a hoot! A few of us even extended the evening as Tom Buursma said, at the First Skiles CRC on Eighth Street!  Altogether, it was a time of good fun, reflection on our heritage and shared values, of sharing our joys and sorrows, of respecting and appreciating our differences, and of reconnecting with friends and even a few of our teachers.

The first photos, taken by Dick Landman and Wayne Lampen, have now been posted on the website.  Just click on "Reunion Photos" in the left-hand column.  If you have photos of the reunion, please send them to djoldersma@gmail.com and they will be posted.

One other thing.  We'd love to hear your thoughts and observations on the reunion.  Just click "Message Forum" in the left-hand column and then click on "Post Response." Tell us what you thought and experienced!

Do we have to wait five more years to do this again?

Yearbook photos have now been added for all classmates who are on the HCHS Class of 1962 website.  This was done a) for our amusement and b) in order to print photo I.D. badges for those attending the September 22 reunion.  If you have a current photo of you by yourself, with a spouse, with grandkids or with your pet fish, you can post them on your profile by going to Member Functions, Edit/Upload photos, and Download photos from your computer.  Give it a try!

New Feature: 

Do you want to keep up with what's happening on the website?  Do you receive too many or too few emails from this website?  You can control the number of emails by clicking a few buttons under MEMBER FUNCTIONS, NOTIFY ME.  It's a new and useful function.

Below...your Reunion Committee....sorta workin' real hard!

Gary Bol, Jack Ludema, Nancy Boylon Bolt, Tom Buursma, Marcia Tuls Elgersma, Dan Joldersma, Phyllis Jousma Raeburn, Dick Landman, Jim Newhouse

Not pictured:  Jim Langeland, Wayne Lampen, Esther Brink Bos, Jim Fredericks,

Thanks to Linda Por (Bol), we now have copies of the Honors Day and Commencent Programs posted on the website.  So now we know that our granduation speaker was Dr. William Spoelhof, President of Calvin College.  If any of you have other documents, memorbilia, or photos of other events, please send them to me and I will scan them for our website.  Check my profile for an address.  Dan



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