Menno S. Jorritsma

Meinte S. Jorritsma was born on April 27, 1926, in the Netherlands, the oldest of three children. He grew up during WWII and during the Nazi occupation of his country he served as a courier in the resistance movement. He received his engineering degree in 1949 and by then had met Antje Misker, the love of his life. They were married February 7, 1950, and in March immigrated to the United States, the land of opportunity. They settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he worked in sales and later as a cost engineer and where they started their family with the birth of a daughter, Anne.

Although Menno had been brought up in a Christian home and attended church and Christian school, it was while the family briefly lived in Bangor, MI, – due to a job transfer – that he heard the Gospel as never before and fully committed his life to Christ. After moving back to Kalamazoo, working as a cost engineer and having bought their first house, he felt God’s call to the ministry. Convinced that this was God’s leading, the family moved to Grand Rapids in 1958 and at the age of 32 he began a 5-year course of study at Calvin College & Seminary.

In 1963, the family added a son, Mark, the first baby that Menno baptized on the Sunday that he was ordained into the ministry. Menno’s passion was sharing the good news of salvation and his first love was preaching for which he was gifted. That God would use him, an immigrant with a Dutch brogue, to preach the gospel was something that never ceased to amaze and humble him. He also loved being a pastor, mentoring and encouraging others in their walk with Christ, and was deeply grateful for the ways in which God used him and blessed his ministry.

Menno often expressed, too, how blessed he was by having Ann partner with him, serving in six churches together in MI, IA, WA, and Alberta, Canada over 28 years and also in several interim positions for eight years after he had retired in 1991.

He was a faithful and loving husband and father – praying for his children and grandchildren every day, caring for Ann for many years at home when she had Alzheimer’s and visiting her every day for nine years in a nursing home until her passing in 2009.

Menno had a keen interest in life, was an avid reader – always ready to pass on a book or article he’d enjoyed. He loved learning – eagerly learning how to use a computer after he’d retired. He enjoyed photography and stained glasswork and was always ready for a good discussion, especially about religion and politics!

Above all else, Menno loved his Lord, his family, and the church and readily testified to God’s grace in his life. Anyone who knew him heard how good the Lord had been to him and how he eagerly anticipated the day when he would meet his Savior face to face.

He is survived by his children Anne and Pete Haverhals and Mark and Ruth Jorritsma; grandchildren, Michael Haverhals, David and Dola Haverhals, Christopher Jorritsma, and Stephanie Jorritsma; his brother Howard in St. Louis, a sister-in-law in the Netherlands, a brother-in-law in Phoenix, numerous nieces and nephews, and a host of family in faith.

Memorials may be made in Menno's name to Christian Reformed Church Home Missions http://www2.crcna.org/pages/crhm_donate_online.cfm or World Vision http://donate.worldvision.org/ways-to-give/by-category/where-most-needed/where-most-needed

“Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”