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Sylvia Arlene Kooyman Coker Sylvia Arlene Kooyman Coker departed at age 49 on March 22, 2009. Young and beautiful forever, our beloved Angel on Earth is now an Angel in Heaven. She is survived by her only son Joshua Coker, granddaughter Jaycee Coker, parents William and Marjorie Schimmel, older sisters Joyce Smith, Shirley Schuring, and Judy Applebee, brother-in-law Scott Applebee, along with a very close-knit family of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and best of friends. The many lives touched by Sylvia's love and grace will cherish her memory within their hearts forever. The tenacity and dogged determination expressed in her every endeavor was borne forward by the strength of her faith in God, and she steadfastly placed the needs of others ahead of her own in her selfless and caring manner. Her radiant smile would light up everyone in the room, and brighten the day of all those she encountered. Her family would like to thank all who supported and befriended her during her illness. A Celebration of Life will be held at 7:00 p.m. Friday, March 27, 2009 at the home of her friends Jann Peacock and Alan Dugger in Leander, TX. (512-296-4622) In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to: Sarcoma Foundation of America, 9884 Main St., P.O. Box 458, Damascus, MD 20872
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Fred DeHaan
I am so sad to see we've lost Sylvia, but hopeful and joyful in the fact that she's simply arrived in Heaven quicker than most of us, and she's starting to plan a glorious reunion above.I remember all the way back to junior high summer days of splashing water at her and other classmates in the Pella Community Pool, and her competitive spirit playing basketball at the Pella Christian gym. Totally lost touch after high school, but now seeing her son and her grandchildren tells me she's left a beautiful legacy and she'll be missed. Fred DeHaan
Melanie Vander Linden (Rutgers)
Sylvia was my very dear friend in high school. I have such wonderful memories of her and the fun we had together. We spent a lot of time just being silly :) One incident that always comes to mind is a day we were working on a math assignment together in study hall. We started laughing about some silly, insignificant thing. It of course escalated into uncontrollable and rather loud laughter. We were really starting to embarrass ourselves.Finally, Sylvia panicked and, in typical Sylvia style, picked up her desk while still sitting in it and did this sort of crab walk back to her assigned place. Well it was a hopeless cause at that point, and we spent the rest of study hall with our heads in our arms trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.
I meant to email Sylvia and tell her I was praying for
her, and that she had touched my life in ways that no one else had. But I kept putting it off, and now I just pray that Jesus will give her the message.
God bless each and every one of you!
Melanie
Judy Stursma (Van Zee)
I also remember fun times at the Pella pool with Sylvia. She was a lot of fun to go swimming with but much more daring than I. Can't you just imagine her doing back flips off the boards? She was good at it!Please pray for comfort for her family-her parents attend the same church we do-Second CRC in Pella. It's so hard for them to lose their youngest daughter.
Judy