Teunis Vander Graaf

Teunis Christiaan Vander Graaf was born on July 10, 1932, in Rotterdam. He was the youngest of four children of Jacob Marinus and Louisa Janna. At the time of his birth, his mother was 42 years of age. He had a sister named Corrie and two brothers - Arie and Albert. Dad often enjoyed quality time with his brothers. He learned both rowing a boat and swimming from them. His dad, Jacob Marinus, and his grandmother died of starvation during the early part of the war. His brothers were in the Dutch Resistance during World War II and, at times, he would have to find his brothers to pass messages. While the war was ongoing, the church arranged for some children to be sent out to the countryside to escape the bombings—this is how Dad/Opa ended up staying in Dokkum, Friesland. When he was twelve years old, a bomb exploded across the canal while he was on his way to school. The force knocked him off his feet with the flash blinding him. A woman picked him up and brought him to the bomb shelter and his mom later brought him to the hospital. Due to the damage from the explosion, he had eye patches for some time after and required glasses to see.

When he was twelve, he decided he wanted to be in the Navy and attended for three semesters. During this time, a new teacher informed him that if he wore glasses, he could not be in the Navy. He then switched to technical school and, after this, architectural school. It was in technical school that he met Wim Kok, who later introduced him to his sister, Geertruida Laura. It was not long after that a love began to grow between them. Teunis and Geertruida (Dad and Mom) got engaged and were married on Valentine’s Day 1952. A year later, Jack was born. Not long afterwards, the Netherlands experienced a significant flood. Dad/Opa, then in the Dutch Army and trained in rowing, rescued many people in Zeeland during the flood.

Dad and Mom relocated to Canada during the autumn of 1953. At first, they resided with Dad/Opa’s uncle Chris, who was in Lisburn, Alberta. Geertruida (mom) did not like living in the middle of nowhere, and so they moved to Edmonton for a brief time, and then to Toronto. Shortly after arriving in Toronto, Willem (Jim) was born, two years later, Louisa and two years after her, Elsa. In 1964, Yvonne was born and 18 months later, Juanita and John were born. The twins were only 6 weeks old, and on Louisa’s birthday, Mom and Dad moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 24, 1965. They moved to an old house on Alpine. Dad first worked in cement with Ome (uncle) Laurence, then as foreman for a general construction company. After several years, Dad/ Opa chose to pursue further education and enrolled at Grand Rapids Junior College, which is presently known as Community College. After finishing GRJC, Dad/ Opa attended University of Michigan in Dearborn, graduating in (year) with an engineering degree. He began working for Veterans Administration in Allen Park, Chicago, Murfreesboro, and Battle Creek.

There were some things that were especially important to Dad/ Opa. Faith and family mattered. After moving to Grand Rapids, Dad/Opa got a family membership at the West YMCA. He ensured his children knew how to swim. On Fridays, Dad/Opa took everyone swimming while Mom watched from the window. It was not until John and Juanita were in the shallow and Dad/ Opa was in the deep end catching Yvonne off the diving board that Mom decided it was time to learn to swim. She took swimming lessons and Dad/ Opa also worked with her on learning to swim. Learning to ice skate was another thing that was important to Dad/ Opa and so all the kids were taught. The older ones learned to skate at Pine Point Arena in Rexdale, Ontario. The younger ones learned to skate at Richmond Park.

After many years, Dad and Mom moved to Covell Ave. After all the kids had moved out, Dad/ Opa eventually bought a cottage on Derby Lake. Dad and Mom loved going to the lake, taking a ride on Dad/ Opa’s pontoon boat, or just sitting outside. After the children were all married, Mom started to have trouble with the stairs. Dad and Mom sold the cottage and house and moved to Jenison. Dad/ Opa loved taking Mom to Grand Haven to walk on the boardwalk. Even after Mom could no longer walk the boardwalk, they still went. Mom would sit in the car and watch the waves, which she loved, and Dad/ Opa would walk the boardwalk. The house in Jenison was on a small lake. Dad/ Opa loved swimming around the lake. Dad/ Opa’s children and grandson soon encouraged him to use a swim buoy while swimming. Dad and Mom used to keep leftover bread so they could feed it to the fish in the lake. Mom’s health began to fail, and Dad/ Opa decided to retire to take care of Mom. Dad/Opa cared for Mom for years. After he could no longer care for Mom, she ended up in a home. Dad/ Opa visited Mom every day, for several hours. On December 25th, 2016, Mom passed away. Dad/ Opa struggled with losing his wife of over 60 years. He frequently would talk about her and how much he missed her. He took pleasure in visiting locations cherished by Mom, including Lake Louise and Hawaii. For a number of years, he resided independently in his home in Jenison until his health began to decline. He was moved to Covenant Living on Lake Michigan Drive. He loved doing his hook rugs to keep him busy. Dad/ Opa looked forward to having visitors at Covenant Living. For the first few years, he loved being active in the home but eventually his legs and strength gradually started giving out and he was confined to a wheelchair.

On February 16, 2026 (remember, he was married on February 14, 1952 so this was just a couple days later) our sovereign Lord and Saviour called Dad/ Opa to his eternal home at the age of 93. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Geertruida VanderGraaf (12/25/2016) (mom’s favorite day was Christmas) He is survived by his children: Jack and Carol, Jim (Willem) and Mary, Louisa and Bob, Elsa, Yvonne and Herb, Juanita and Jeff, John and Brenda; 18 grandchildren, 26 great-children and one-great-great grandchild.

The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 from 2-4 & 6-8 PM at Heritage Life Story Funeral Home at 2120 Lake Michigan Dr., NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504. The funeral service will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 1:30 PM at Free Reformed Church, 950 Ball Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. Interment with the family preceding the service will be at Rosedale Memorial Park, 10 Lake Michigan Drive, Grand Rapids, MI, 49534.

Pall Bearers: Kevin VanderGraaf, David VanderGraaf, Sam VanderGraaf, John VanderGraaf Jr., Keith DeJong, Mark DeJong, Johnathan, Ryan VanderGraaf.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids Christian Education Fund (near to Dad’s heart. He loved children) would be gratefully appreciated. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand forever. Isaiah 40:8