In 1952, she immigrated with her mother and father (Cornelis and Johanna Vanden Akker), her Opa (Leonardus Marcus), her sisters (Riet, Joanne, and Gertrude) and brothers (Bert and Leo). In Canada, she met her husband John Broekema. They were married for 64 years.
Most of their years together were spent on Niagara Street in St. Catharines where they formed relationships with their neighbours.She treasured spending time with her family and tending to her garden.
Henny served many roles at Maranatha CRC and then Covenant CRCand in the community. With an evangelistic heart she was always involved in some form of outreach - Vacation Bible School, Pioneer Girls Leader, Coffee Break Leader, Prayer Room Organizer, Evangelism Committee member, Prayer at the Cove, singing at Shaver and Out of the Cold to name a few.
Henny’s heart was also for her children to know Jesus deeply, and she worked cleaning houses and then doing custodial work at Covenant CRC to help send them to Christian school so that they could learn about Him every day.
Henny was passionate about prayer and prayed deeply for others - whether it was for her family, her church family, government leaders or the world at large - Henny was often bringing people and situations to her Lord and Saviour. For Henny, prayer - talking to Jesus - was the only answer.
She was a great encourager and her desire was that all would know the love of Christ. This grew to her sending homemade birthday cards to everyone in her congregation.
She will be dearly missed by many and by:
Her husband John Broekema of St. Catharines
Her 4 children: Margaret and Arnold Dudt of Brookfield, Ohio
John and Joanne Broekema of Jordan, Ontario
Rob and Jolanda Broekema of Virgil, Ontario
Nancy and David Straatsma of Stratford, Ontario
13 grandchildren
29 great-grandchildren
The funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, August 16 at Immanuel United Reformed Church, 2900 Fourth Ave., Jordan Station, ON. The service will be outside so please bring a lawn chair.
