George Arnold De Boer was born on August 2, 1937, to parents Ben and Anna De Boer who were serving as missionaries on an Indian reservation in Rehoboth, New Mexico. He spent his early childhood there on the Indian reservation. At the age of seven, George’s parents returned to Michigan to take on a new assignment for the church and also so George could attend school with his siblings.
Home life in Michigan was different than what George had come to know on the reservation. Number one, he hated the Michigan cold! Also, he finally had the opportunity to live with his two older siblings, Jenny and John, who had been staying with other families during his parents’ missionary service. Starting school late, George had some catching up to do. Studying was never really George’s favorite thing, but sports were. George used his athletic talents as a way to overcome his shyness and make new friends. On the playground when the boys would have running races against each other, George could run like the wind and was able to outrun every single one of them.
In 1950, Ben De Boer took on a new assignment in Bellflower, California, and the whole family came to California. He began ministering at a small church called Grace Church on Rose Street. When George arrived in California, he knew this was the place he wanted to stay. It was beautiful, warm, and there was no snow! This was his paradise.
George and his siblings were immediately enrolled in school upon their arrival to California. Since a Christian education was of top priority to his parents, all the De Boer children were enrolled at the Valley Christian Schools. Since George was a shy person, he had some difficulty making friends. But with the support of his older brother John and George’s love of sports, he soon made friends both on and off the athletic field.
As a freshman at Valley Christian, George was elected vice president of his class and he also served on the student council. He played junior varsity basketball, varsity football and ran varsity track, all as a freshman! His older brother John was a senior that year and also ran on the varsity track team. Even as a freshman, George was faster than his brother, a feat that made George very proud. Later when George’s son Jack was also a student at Valley Christian High School, the superintendant at the school, Ken Bootsma, who had been a classmate of George’s, told Jack that he had once timed George running the 100 yard dash barefoot in 10 seconds!
During his sophomore year George was elected as his class president and continued working on the student council. But athletics were still George’s passion, and that became his main focus. He continued playing with the varsity football and track teams. In 1954 as a junior, the Valley Christian Crusaders were the league champs and had an undefeated season.
At the age of 16, George also discovered a new passion – cars. He loved cars and driving. He went to work every morning before school at one of the local dairies so he could save his money for a car.
His first car was a lavender and white 1951 Oldsmobile.
It was also around this time that George met the person who would change his life forever. He met a feisty, curly-headed girl by the name of Vicki Seifert, and life would never be the same for George again.
George and Vicki were married in 1955 and soon began a family. First came Jeri, then Teri, Kristal, and finally Jack. George was so excited to finally have a son to carry on the De Boer name. He named Jack after his best friend, Jack Dimestra. If Vicki had had her way, Jack would now be known as “Edward”.
By the age of 25, George had a full life: a wife, four children, a house payment and a car payment. Things were always financially tight at the De Boer household, but with the help of Vicki’s parents no one went without. George had an incredible work ethic. He went to work every day there was work to provide for his family. It was by his example that the De Boer children learned their commitment to employment and the responsibility of providing for themselves and their families.
George was the kind of person who could not be confined in an office and found employment in the swimming pool business. He went to work for Anthony Pools and did hard manual labor, lifting 100 pound bags of cement and doing the tiling and coping on built-in swimming pools. George loved this kind of work because he could be outdoors in the sun and he enjoyed the physical labor. However, this kind of work was tough on the family. When it rained, there was no work. And in the summer when the kids were out of school and families were planning summer vacations, George was in his “busy season”. As a result, George never got the opportunity to go on any of the family vacations during the summer. It was his job to stay home and go to work for the family. So while Vicki, her parents, and the De Boer children were off at the Grand Canyon or Reno, George was stuck at home caring for the numerous family pets the kids always insisted on having: their dog, Gina; several cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and fish. It was their version of Old McDonald’s Farm. However, there was one silver lining for George when the family left for their summer vacations. He had the entire house to himself and there was finally peace and quiet.
In 1978 George purchased the car of his dreams, a Camero Z28. He loved that car! Unfortunately, he never got much of an opportunity to enjoy his new car. Kristal needed a car to get herself to and from court reporting school, so George’s hot Camero became Kristal’s mode of transportation. George loved that car so much that when it came to getting rid of it, he gave it to Vicki’s best friends, Maria and Dennis Camp. He knew that Dennis shared his affection for cars and hoped that one day Dennis would restore the Camero to her former beauty and performance.
George worked 30 years in the swimming pool industry, but the physical labor took its toll on him. His knees were wearing down from years of crawling around on the hard cement with no knee pads. Also, he had suffered two sun strokes and his skin had become like leather. It was at this point George left the pool industry and started a new career doing something he always loved to do – drive. He became a truck driver at Industrial Sprockets and Gears in Santa Fe Springs, California. George loved working for Max Patridge and his sons, Monty and Mark. Kristal was so happy when George started working at Industrial Gears because she knew it would give her dad the opportunity to get acquainted with her amazing friend, Connie. Kristal’s hope was that George would gain an understanding of why this friend meant so very much to her. Max Patridge once told Kristal that George was the best truck driver they ever had at Industrial Gear.
At the age of 62, George’s knees had worn down so much and he was in so much pain that he finally decided to retire from Industrial Gears and enjoy the rest of his life doing what he always had a passion for – watching sports, especially formula one racing. George was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Long Beach Grand Prix several times with his best friend Sam Vandermeer. As their anticipation for the race grew, they would go down to Long Beach a month before the event just to watch them set up the bleachers and track. George was also lucky enough to be able to travel to Indianapolis, Indiana with Sam for the Indianapolis 500. Oh, how he loved those daysI One year George and Sam even took their sons along with them for the race. Jack and Kenny Vandermeer were great friends from Valley Christian High School, and they had the trip of a lifetime with their dads.
George was finally able to fulfill one of his life’s dreams of driving a race car. Twice his family surprised him with gifts of driving a stock car out at the California Speedway in Fontana, California. With the entire family watching and cheering him on, George raced one time by himself and another time with Jack. Kristal told me that she thought that was one of the happiest days of her dad’s life.
As George’s health continued to decline, his days at the races came to an end. He settled into a more solitary life enjoying the big screen TV his children got for his birthday so he could watch all of his favorite sports. George was a very private and quiet man who spoke in a very low tone. All of dates and/or spouses that the De Boer children brought home with them were often afraid to have a conversation with George because most of them couldn’t understand his soft-spoken conversation. Mark Mihalco, Kristal’s husband, and Vicky De Boer, Jack’s wife, could rarely understand what George was saying and were amazed when Jack and Kristal were able to answer a question posed to them by George.
George was always that quiet presence at family get-togethers. He enjoyed sitting in the California room with the men of the family watching and discussing sports. He also loved seeing his three grandchildren; Anthony, Zachary and Danna. He always had a soft spot in his heart for them, and he loved it when Danna would bring along her guitar and sing a song or two for the family.
On October 4, 2014, Vicki De Boer passed away suddenly. It was a shock to the whole family, but especially to George. He had been married to Vicki for 59 years and he loved her dearly. Vicki had been his caregiver for the last ten years, and with her gone it was like the wind went out of his sails. George had been in declining health for the past two years, with a trip to the hospital in August 2013 and a final trip in December 2014. Soft-spoken in life, George made a strong decision not to enter into hospice and passed peacefully in the morning of January 18. His children feel he just wanted to go be with their mom.
George is survived by his children: Jeri, Teri, Kristal and Jack; his sons-in-law Ariel Valli and Mark Mihalco; his daughter-in-law Vicky De Boer; his grandchildren Anthony Valli, Zachary De Boer and Danna De Boer; his brothers John De Boer and Robert De Boer; and his sisters Jenny Vanderwoude and Betty Diepenhorst.
Songs for George De Boer’s Memorial Service, Saturday, January 31, 2015
That will be the Day – Buddy Holly & The Crickets
Great Pretender – The Platters
Wouldn’t It Be Nice – Beach Boys
God Only Knows – Beach Boys
Rhinestone Cowboy – Glen Campbell
Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets
Islands in the Stream – Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
Don’t Worry Baby – Beach Boys
Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino
Gentle on My Mind – Glen Campbell
All Summer Long – Beach Boys
Little Darlin’- The Diamonds
I Only Have Eyes for You – The Flamingos
Here you come again – Dolly Parton
Surfer Girl – Beach Boys
Johnnie B. Goode – Chuck Berry
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – The Platters
Good Vibrations – Beach Boys
Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell
Chantilly Lace – The Big Bopper
The Warmth of the Sun – Beach Boys
Ain’t That a Shame – Fats Domino
By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell
Little Deuce Coupe – Beach Boys
Since I Don’t Have You – The Skyliners
MEMORIAL POEMS FOR GEORGE DE BOER
God Saw You Getting Tired
God saw you getting tired,
When a cure was not to be.
So He wrapped his arms around you,
and whispered, "come to me."
You didn't deserve what you went through,
So He gave you rest.
God's garden must be beautiful,
He only takes the best
And when I saw you sleeping,
So peaceful and free from pain
I could not wish you back
To suffer that again.
God's Garden
God looked around his garden
And found an empty place,
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, ‘Peace be thine’.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
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