Rev. Jacob Boonstra

Jacob Paul Boonstra as a compassionate person, genuine and faithful. He stood up for what he thought was right and had a wonderful way of making people feel important whenever he talked with them. He dearly loved his family and his calling to serve the Lord. His love for God touched his family, friends and many more who called him “pastor.”

Jacob Paul was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on January 14, 1927, the year Charles Lindbergh made his historic transatlantic flight in 33.5 hours and the decade in which American women won the right to vote. Yet the economic depression that closed out the 1920s also shaped the character of its citizens. Families were forced to live frugally and rely on what mattered most: faith and family.

Jacob was the oldest of Jacob Paul and Mina (Gros) Boonstra’s three sons, whose ages spanned 16 years. Jacob, Paul and Jim grew up secure under the care of their homemaker mother and hard-working father. He had numerous jobs over the years, including work with Steelcase manufacturing company. During especially challenging times, he moved his family to Paterson, New Jersey for new job prospects.

In many ways, the move to the east coast was a good one. The family found a church and school community as well as a recreation spot. They enjoyed picnics and trips to the beach and were near enough to New York City to take in one of Jacob’s favorite pastimes: baseball. He was a big fan of the Yankees, and at age 13, Jacob and his brother Paul traveled to NYC to see the Yankees play. It was well worth the ticket price of $1.10.

Jacob attended Riverside Christian School in Paterson, graduated from Eastern High School and joined the Navy when he turned 17. Being that young, Jacob’s father had to sign for him, but the mature teen dutifully served his country through the end of World War II. He was stationed in Corpus Christi guarding borders, and he did a brief stint in the Panama Canal. During his time in the service, the daughter of a family friend, Angeline Hoekzema, began writing Jacob. That began a long term relationship that blessed Jacob’s life for many, many years.

The Hoekzema family had been friends of the Boonstras when they lived in Michigan, and their children often played together. So, Jacob Boonstra and Angie Hoekzema actually met as babies, but it wasn’t until he was in the service that they began to see each other as more than childhood friends. It was Angie’s parents who had encouraged her to write to Jake, but his parents also nudged matters along. At one point, she had took a train to Memphis and joined Jake’s family to see him graduate from Radio/Radar training. When she arrived at his door, Jake just stood there, but his mother seized the moment saying, “Don't just stand there, kiss her.”

When Jake finished military duty, his family moved back to Grand Rapids and lived with the Hoekzema family for three months while they reestablished themselves. Jacob enrolled in Calvin College and, upon graduation, went on to Calvin Seminary. He and Angie had been dating for some time and were going to wait with marriage until he completed seminary. That wasn’t to be. With a ring that Jake had purchased in Puerto Rico during his tour of duty, the couple became engaged and were married on June 3, 1948 at Grandville Avenue Christian Reformed Church, where Jake’s family were members. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon traveling around beautiful Lake Michigan, a trip marred only by the first night when they locked their keys in the car and had to break a window to get in.

Settling into married life, Jake and Angie lived on Plastico Street in southwest Grand Rapids and paid $20 a month in rent. It was the first of many residences that they and their family would call home. Blessed with five children—Glenn Thomas (born in 1950), Douglas Wayne (1952), Kenneth Dale (1955), Ronald Craig (1957) and Eileen Joy (1959)—the Boonstras served as ministers of the gospel in Christian Reformed Churches across the United States: Cascade CRC and 12th Street CRC in Grand Rapids, First Cicero CRC in Illinois, Hillcrest CRC in Colorado, Plainfield CRC in Rockford, Michigan, then Tracy CRC in Tracy, Iowa and several more churches as interim minister in Jacob’s retirement.

In his long career, Jacob instilled the tenets of the Christian faith in catechism classes, he taught Ladies’ Bible Study groups, mentored other pastors as they began in ministry, and he preached the gospel. It was calculated that throughout his lifetime, Jacob had written 1448 sermons, performed 151 weddings, officiated at 137 funerals, and received 24 calls and 13 requests from churches seeking an interim pastor. In retirement, he was still active teaching a Bible study at Christian Rest Home for as long as he was able.

Being a minister, Jacob was certainly well read, but he enjoyed reading books of all kinds. However, for outdoor recreation, nothing compared to golf. Jake had begun playing at age 17 and was hooked for life, still playing in January of 2013. He taught his whole family how to play and every year took an excursion with a friend to Myrtle Beach for a golfing vacation. Over the years, Jake tallied 4 holes-in-one, a worst score of 112 for 18 holes, and the most golf outings in one year at 104. He confessed to prizing his golf clubs as his favorite possession…until the next new club came on the market.

Though Jacob and Angie had crisscrossed the country in the churches they served, they also vacationed in many spots throughout the US. In the early years, the family spent every summer at Long Lake in Michigan and then one last camping trip as a family in the year before moving to Colorado. As a couple, they had the pleasure of taking a trip with friends to Hawaii and a cruise in Alaska. By the time their children had left home, Jake and Angie were happy to travel to wherever their kids lived, especially when grandchildren came on the scene.

The husband and wife “team” had built a home of love and a ministry of care. Whether serving the church or eating Angie’s famous hamburg pie, Jacob delighted in their life together. He was deeply saddened when she suffered a stroke and died in 2009. His comfort could be found in his favorite Bible passage, Romans 8:37-39: “In all [life’s challenges] we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the year following Angie’s death, Jacob traveled to Grand Rapids to visit his daughter for Christmas. Having recently reconnected with Virginia Visser, also living in Grand Rapids, Jacob and she arranged to have lunch while he was in town. The Vissers and Boonstras had been friends years before, and Jacob had presided at the funeral of Virginia’s husband some 24 years prior. The families had remained in contact ever since through annual Christmas cards.

After that Christmastime lunch, Jake returned to Colorado, but he and Virginia continued to talk daily. Within a few weeks of building their relationship at a distance, they became certain of their decision to marry, and Jake moved back to Grand Rapids. He and Virginia made their vows of marriage on May 8, 2010. Jake was of the mind that when he reached the age that they were, he should count anniversaries in months rather than years. So he gave Ginny flowers every month for the 33 anniversaries that they had together.

In February 2013, Jake suffered a stroke in his sleep. Having seen how Angie had suffered with the effects of a stroke, Jake had let it be known that he did not wish to be kept alive if the same should happen to him. Instead, his loving family made him comfortable in the remaining days before his death on Wednesday, February 27, 2013.

Jacob loved his Lord and the church on earth. Now in heaven, he is praising God with the saints who have gone before. The family can take comfort in the hymn that was most beloved by their husband, father and grandfather:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Rev. Jacob P. Boonstra, 86, was preceded in death by wife Angeline of 61 years. Surviving are their 5 children, 13 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren. Also surviving is his wife of nearly 3 years, Virginia, her 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be held at 2 PM on Thursday March 7, 2013 at Westend Christian Reformed Church, 1015 Westend Ave NW. Friends are invited to meet with the family from noon to 2 PM at church. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to CRCRC – World Renew or Calvin Theological Seminary. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to read Jacob’s lifestory, archive a memory, photo, or sign the guestbook online.