John Ligtvoet

John Ligtvoet was a quiet, noble man, a man of great courage and character, whose actions always spoke louder than his words. He was a decorated veteran, a loving husband, father, and friend, and a teacher to so many. More than anything, John was one of the greatest examples of our Greatest Generation, who knew that being a great man meant nothing without being a good man. He was most certainly both.

John’s story began on a cold winter day in 1924, in the shoreline city of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Those were exciting times in this country, the heyday of the Roaring 20s, when Big Bands were king and Prohibition was the law of the land. On February 15, 1924, John and Anna (Visscher) Ligtvoet welcomed a baby boy into the world, a son they named John after his father.

Little John joined his older sister Eleanor in the family’s Kenosha home, though shortly after he was born they packed up and headed across Lake Michigan, to the town of Holland, Michigan. They lived in a beautiful home on 19th Street and Van Raalte, the home where John was raised.

Growing up during the Great Depression, John learned the meaning of hard work and sacrifice from watching his parents, who always had food on the table and provided for their family. His dad bartered his services around town to make ends meet, and John did his part by delivering newspapers after school. In his free time, John played ball with his friend, Charles Eilander, whose family lived across the street.

John attended Holland Schools, and by the time he reached Holland High, he had grown into a strapping young man, as well as an excellent athlete. John played tennis for the Dutch, and was an offensive end on the football team, too. He often walked home at lunchtime, since he never had a car.

After graduating from Holland High in the early 1940s, John went to live with his Aunt Grace in Grand Rapids, where he took a job as a clerk at the Federal Bureau of Investigation branch office there. Soon, however, his country would require more than his clerking skills.

John was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, and entered the Army 104th Infantry, the famous platoon known as the Timberwolves. He served his country so bravely in the European Theater, eventually attaining the rank of sergeant.

In one particularly harrowing battle, John was a member of the first assault wave that was to cross a river. On his first attempt, one man was killed and two were wounded in his boat by deadly crossfire from enemy machine guns, and John and the crew were forced to abandon ship. John helped his wounded comrades to shore, and then attempted a second crossing, until he was again forced into the water. Finding some men on a small island, John organized another boat crew, and inspiring his men with almost superhuman endurance, he gained the enemy shore after having one man killed and one man wounded. John helped the wounded man to a covered position, and organized the rest of the men in forming a defensive position. Later on, he volunteered to find a boat and evacuate the wounded man, but he was forced to return due to deadly machine gun fire.

For his bravery and valor, John was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star, two awards he was very proud of, even though he rarely spoke of his service later in life.

When John’s service to his country ended, he returned to Holland, where he used the G.I. Bill to attend Hope College in his hometown, where he studied Chemistry. It also didn’t take long to realize the “chemistry” he had with a girl he’d known his whole life, Arlene Eilander!

Arlene was his friend Charles’ sister, and they soon began dating, and John would go over to her house after he’d finished his studies for the day. They soon fell in love, and after he graduated from Hope in 1949, the young couple was married, on August 19, 1949, at the Holland Country Club.

The newlyweds honeymooned at a little cottage on Lake Michigan, before heading to Ann Arbor where they moved for John to finish his Masters Degree at the University of Michigan. Arlene was a wonderful, supportive wife, who worked as a teacher while John finished schooling.

Degree in hand, John and Arlene moved to Hastings, Michigan in 1951, where he began teaching high school chemistry and coaching the football team. Two years later, John received a better offer, so they moved once again, to Dearborn, Michigan, where he taught chemistry at Henry Ford Community College.

The couple enjoyed Dearborn, and made many friends there, often having company over for a game of cards. John loved being a professor, and even served as the Chemistry Department chair for awhile. Most of all, John loved helping influence young minds. Eventually, though, he and Arlene would have a few young minds of their own to look after. In 1959, after 10 years of marriage, the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, their daughter Pam. Their son Jon rounded out the happy family in 1965.

John would take classes in summer school at different places around the country, so the family “vacations” were spent at Oregon State University, the University of North Carolina, and Western Illinois, among other college towns. John was an excellent father, always there for them, picking them up from school and taking them on trips to the library on his bike, instilling a love of learning in them from a young age. He was an exceptionally patient father, who rarely yelled at them, and even apologized to them when he did! He was a real “softy.”

That was John, though, a man with such quiet character, the calm water atop the deep stream. He was quite content to tend to his large garden, where he grew his prized tomatoes and peas, which he’d pluck from the vine and put right in his salad. Oh, he loved sweet and sour chicken, and had a soft spot for peanut M&Ms, but John was a health nut at heart, and was an avid walker who always took care of himself, too.

John loved books, and loved libraries, and was a longtime volunteer at the Yankee Clipper Library in Grand Rapids. He loved to read, especially westerns and anything about World War II. Though he rarely spoke of his service, he remained very proud of it, and later in life he attended many veterans’ reunions around the Midwest. He even kept his Army rifle for many years, until the military asked him to return it, during the 1967 - 1968 riots in Detroit. John, of course, did the right thing and turned it in.

John was also a man of great faith in the Lord, and was a longtime member of Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church in Dearborn, where he faithfully attended Sunday services and Sunday School.

In 1988, John and Arlene moved back to Grand Rapids, to be closer to their family, where John lived the rest of his days.

Sadly, John died on Monday, August 20, 2007, at the age of 83.

John was a remarkable man, who lived a remarkable life, a life so full of service, to his country, to his family, and to the world around him. He was a loving husband, father and friend, and a man who devoted his life to teaching those around him. More than anything, John taught us to do what we should, and what we could, with the same quiet character he always had. He will be so greatly missed.

He was a devoted husband to his wife of 58 years, Arlene; and loving father to Pam Ligtvoet and Jon (Colleen) Ligtvoet. Also surviving is his sister, Eleanor (Gerald) Bax, and sister-in-law, Barb Stockman. A private family interment service will be held at Pilgrim Home Cemetery in Holland, MI. Memorial Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or National WWII Memorial Fund. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to share a memory or photo of John, or to sign the guestbook.