Gordon Kuipers

Gordon Kuipers, age 91 of Wyckoff and a former longtime resident of North Haledon, went to his eternal home in heaven on Monday, December 9, 2019.

Gordon was born in Wommels, a small village located in the center of the Frisian dairy farm area in the Netherlands where a look out the front window of his childhood home showed him a view of a path along the canal, and a look from the his dining room window displayed herds of Holstein cows, woolly sheep and proud, black Frisian horses dotting the miles of luscious green meadows.

Gordon’s life in Wommels was vastly different than his life in Northern New Jersey today. Only three people in Wommels had a car, there was one cop but he’d probably never been told what a ticket was, the wooden toys that Gordon played with were painted in beautiful colors -  all with pure lead based paint, everyone drank from the same spigot or from the same tin cup hanging on the side of the rain barrel (after pushing the dead bugs, floating on the surface, to the side), horses, bikes and hay wagons were rode with no helmet, scraped knees, black eyes and broken legs healed by themselves, and since his family had nothing, they never felt like they lost anything. As a young boy, Gordon played soccer in his wooden shoes, got one peppermint for church on Sunday, one penny for the church collection plate and, when he reached the age of ten, he got one cigarette for catechism (religious training class). Baths were once a week in a tub behind the stove.

Gordon loved school and so he dreaded the day when he’d finish the seventh grade. His parents had already told him that attending high school was out of the question. The tuition was simply too much for his parents to pay and, as his father would say, “I have four more kids to put through school.” In May of 1941, Gordon entered vocational school to learn to become a blacksmith. He finished second in his class of thirty students despite never doing any homework. The principal of the school saw something special in Gordon and urged his parents to allow him to transfer to the only Technical University in the Netherland to study engineering but, because it was financially out of the question, his parents didn’t even give that a thought. Even when the principal offered to pay for Gordon’s tuition, his parents turned it down because they could not even afford the room and board and they knew that, whatever they did for Gordon, they’d have to do for their other four kids. Gordon had one more ray of hope – a school which prepared boys for officer positions on ocean liners. There was no tuition and, upon graduation, the students would serve on ships, sailing in tropical waters for seven years. Gordon entered the application himself and initially, things looked promising. Once again however, hopes were dashed when the Germans combined the school with their navy and moved it to the German city of Hamburg.

Gordon’s introduction to work came in 1943, the middle of World War II. Not that this was his first job; when he was nine he had to come home right after school, and go help his father in his shop making butter barrels for a local creamery.

Thinking back on his earlier years, it was understandable to Gordon that many of his memories seemed to focus on the experiences of World War II: the hardships, difficulties, deprivations, as well as the small victories he was able to gain every now and then. One happening really stood out in his memory because it clearly showed what his parents were made of. One day, on his way to school, Gordon passed a potato field being harvested. Armed German soldiers were making sure that every last potato was loaded on waiting German trucks. Taking in the scene, Gordon decided to go to this field to see what he could glean. His pursuit yielded forty pounds of potatoes. As he proudly walked into his house to greet his mother, Gordon expected her to be overjoyed but, instead she cried and said, “It’s so wonderful that you got all those potatoes, but we have nothing to make a fire to cook them with.” When his dad saw the situation, he went upstairs without a word, took down the door to their bedroom and chopped it up for firewood. That night, the family enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of newly harvested potatoes.

As time went on, the Nazi’s became more aggressive in Gordon’s hometown. They built large billboards on which they pasted Nazi propaganda using wheat paste. As soon as they finished and left, Gordon climbed up and pulled the sheets down which was easy with the paste still wet. Eventually, the Nazi’s learned of Gordon’s shenanigans so he had to escape. He took refuge in a neighboring county and got a job as a blacksmith in the village of Witmarssum. He shoed horses, sharpened mowing machine sickle bars and plow sheers, repaired kitchen stoves and made stovepipes. One thing he became rather good at was copper welding to repair little holes in enamel pots. In the middle of the war, you could not buy new pots and word got out about the new boy who knew how to fix worn-through enamel pots. One day, a very attractive girl came in with a pot that needed repair. Gordon was very happy to fix it but very sad to find out she was only fourteen, but happy again when he was told that she had an older sister who was equally or maybe even more beautiful. The older sister was Shirley Faber and on December 15, 1944 they had their first date. Dates were walks and over the next three or four weeks Gordon and Shirley took many. These walks were always accompanied by Shirley’s sister. As time went on, Gordon became more anxious for that first kiss, just not in front of Shirley’s sister. Able to devise a plan to get alone with Shirley for a few minutes, they enjoyed their first heavenly sweet kiss. Gordon and Shirley were both just sixteen years old at the time.

The war went on, food was in scarce supply and Gordon became very ill. Bedridden for a year, Shirley visited often. During that year of resting and recuperating Gordon took the idle time to study for a year to become a junior accountant. With just a seventh grade education, the odds of him passing the exam were slim but to his great joy, he passed! Thank you Lord! Looking back, he came out totally cured, had gained a valuable skill, and still had the love of his life. In Gordon’s estimation, God had proven the truth of His words, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” and His other promise, “I will be with you all the days of your life.”

As time went on, Gordon’s parents emigrated to the United States. Gordon stayed behind and soon after, he and Shirley exchanged wedding vows before God, her family, and friends on October 3, 1951. Their first apartment cost $2.00 per month. In August of 1952, they welcomed their first child – a son which they named Bernard who looked so strong and healthy, Gordon felt he would make a good blacksmith someday. In May of 1953, they joined the rest of Gordon’s family in the United States, settling initially in Whitinsville, Massachusetts.

Moving to a new country with a strange culture brought with it many challenges and changes – a new language and even new names. Thankfully for Americans who would come to know them, Gordon’s name was changed from Gerben to Gordon and Shirley’s name was changed from Sijbrichje to Shirley. Years later, Gordon’s kids gave him vanity plates for his car inscribed “Gerben” . Those plates have been on various cars for almost 40 years and those cars were often affectionately referred to as “The Gerb-Mobile”.

Gordon and Shirley and their son Bernie eventually moved to Hawthorne, NJ where Gordon took a job as a bookkeeper in Shirley’s Uncle John Vander Eems’ wood shop in Hawthorne. It came with a house too! Gordon loved the job and, being a go-getter, in his spare time he started his own company called “The Household Finishing Company” selling cutlery to new brides. He also developed his own tax service which kept him busy every year from January through April 15 well into his early eighties. In the ensuing years, the blessing of children kept coming. Bernie was followed by Regina, Pete, Sharon, Janice, Richard, a son Stanley who passed at age four months, and Marcia. With each new child came the need for more space and, over the years, the family moved many times including to three homes in Hawthorne, many years in North Haledon, a home in Wayne, back to North Haledon and most recently to their own apartment at the Christian Health Care Center in Wyckoff.

Gordon spent most of his professional life as a banker – first with Prospect Park National Bank and later with Citizen’s First National Bank from which he retired in 1995 at Vice President of the Wyckoff branch. During many years in banking Gordon made it a practice to come home for lunch where he continued a tradition of calling the house and letting the house phone ring twice to signal to Shirley that it was time to get the food ready and put on the coffee.

Gordon’s life was built on a firm foundation of service - first to God, then to family, and finally to anyone that God caused his life to cross paths with. While he served for many years as a deacon and elder in both the former Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Paterson and later at the Cedar Hill Christian Reformed Church in Wyckoff, his greatest desire was that those who didn’t enjoy a personal relationship with Jesus Christ would get the chance to know and love Christ like he did. Consequently, he spent many Sunday afternoons visiting the elderly and lonely in local nursing homes, and many Friday nights hanging out with the homeless men who took refuge at Cedar Hill Church where he tried his best to give them hope by getting to know them, listen to their stories, help them with their challenges and teach them about Jesus’ love and purpose for their lives. Retirement from banking afforded even more time and Gordon quickly went to work for Ridgefield Church in Clifton. He made up a little flyer called “Forever” and went door-to-door in Clifton, handing out this flyer and inviting people to church. He also preached God’s word in that church and guest-preached in many others and brought comfort and officiated at the funerals of countless family and friends.

Gordon viewed God’s fatherly love, care, guidance and provision for him as the perfect example and inspiration for how he could live his life in service to others. Nowhere was that more demonstrated than in his role as husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and uncle. Thus, he was first and foremost, a great-provider who worked tirelessly yet always cheerfully to provide a roof over his family’s head, food on the table, and a Christian education for all seven of his kids. Many nights, he’d come home from a day of work at the bank only to have to go out again at night to do someone’s tax return, work as their bookkeeper or to attend a church meeting. It wasn’t unusual for him to have dinner with his family, then put his head on the table for a quick fifteen minute power nap before heading out for a night of work.

Gordon’s family always felt like they had all they wanted and, what he couldn’t provide in material blessings he more than made up for in rich, lasting and often humorous memories. Gordon blessed his family with wonderful traditions like making nine cups of tea every morning and delivering the cups of tea to his wife and each of his kids in bed. On Sunday mornings he would take rolls of Lifesaver candies, cut them in sections of three and stack them on the kitchen counter on top of seven little piles of coins so that each of his kids had money to put in the church collection plate and candies to put in their bellies during the church service. For many years, Christmas trees were picked up on Christmas Eve. He’d usually get two for next to nothing or free. After the kids were in bed, he’d drill holes in the best tree and take branches from the other tree and insert them in the holes to make one beautiful tree. His children never knew the difference! Later, when money was more abundant, Gordon would pick up one Christmas tree in his Volkswagen. To get it home, he’d roll down the window and carry the tree with his left hand out the window, steer with his right hand and have whatever kid went with him shift the car’s manual transmission. Gordon believed that asking for forgiveness was better than asking for permission. This philosophy inspired him to drive that same Volkswagen down the sidewalk as he helped his kids deliver their morning newspapers on rainy or snowy days. It worked great when the police officer stopped him, as forgiveness was granted. In addition to Christmas trees, Gordon never saw a tree that he didn’t want to cut down. This propensity for deforestation earned him the title of “The Mad Hatcher”. Ironically, while living in Wayne, for each new grandchild his children blessed him with, Gordon planted a Arborvitae tree. They were all planted in an impressive row and, by the time he and Shirley moved from that house, 22 trees had been planted. In his seventies and early eighties, Gordon rode his bicycle everywhere. Sometimes he’d deliver you bagels by bike on Saturday mornings or come visit you by bike if you were fishing. Finally, Gordon loved to be in his workshop where he could work magic to restore any piece of old furniture you could challenge him with. He’d make everything look beautiful and he always took on the challenge in a genuine spirit of love. His family is blessed with many of those labors of love which beautify their homes and serve as a lasting memory of the great man that he was.

Gordon had other great “Gordon-isms.” His thunderously loud throat clearing was famous. If you weren’t sure if he was in a large crowd, the throat clearing gave it away for sure. The only thing louder than his throat clearing was his singing. Gordon had one volume…..LOUD! If his kids had an earache, a little hot oil poured in the ear was so painful, you quickly forgot about your earache, and to Gordon there was nothing like a little brandy or cognac to cure a sore throat. And one more thing…..No one could wiggle both ears at once, without hands, like Gordon.

Gordon was the eternal optimist. He would often say, “If I was any better, I wouldn’t be able to stand myself”.  Coupled with his strong faith Gordon had a bankroll of wisdom which he loved to share. He truly cared about the welfare of others, whether one of his own family, a friend, or even an acquaintance. When something upsetting would happen, he would often say “The soup is always hottest when it’s first served”. In other words, “Give the situation a little time to cool. You will have a much clearer perspective if you do and it won’t seem as bad”. He’d also say, “First things first” and encourage you to take the emotion out of it, do the right thing, and always stay optimistic! He was very supportive and very welcoming. With one caring phone call or conversation, he could ease your mind and enfold you. When his children or grandchildren married, the spouse was never considered an “in-law”.  You were immediately another child or grandchild.

2019 was Gordon’s most challenging year. Health wise, he faced a lot of adversity. Seizures muddled his otherwise sharp mind, blindness due to glaucoma made his world a dark place, and a failing ability to hear closed him off from so much that life had always offered. Throughout it all, his faith remained strong. Now, in heaven with family and friends who have gone before him, he is enjoying a new and eternal chapter. His family gives thanks for his legacy and example which will live on in each of them.

Special thanks also to all who have kept Gordon in prayer, visited him and encouraged him in his final lap of the race on earth. Also, his family would like to express sincere appreciation to the loving and caring team of caregivers at the Christian Health Care Center who took great care of Gordon. Your job is hard and often thankless. You are loved and appreciated by the Kuipers family!

Gordon! Know you are loved!

Gordon was the beloved husband of Shirley (nee Faber) – blessed in marriage for 68 years. He was the loving father of Bernie and wife Eileen Kuipers of Midland Park, Regina and husband Dennis Englishman of Oak Ridge, NC, Pete and wife Geertje Kuipers of Wayne, Sharon and husband Henry Vogel of Warwick, NY, Janice and husband George Hoogenhuis of Warwick, NY, Richard and wife Laurie Kuipers of North Haledon, the late Stanley Kuipers, and Marcia Kuipers of Wayne; much-loved grandfather of 24 grandchildren – Amanda and husband Brian DeWitte, the late Dennis Englishman, Douglas Englishman, Kimberly Vogel, Jason and wife Toni Vogel, Melissa and husband Brandt Hoffman, Allison and husband Mark Schemper, David Englishman, Lauren and husband Christopher Vellenga, Philip and wife Tara Kuipers, Philip and wife Kerri Hoogenhuis, Drew Kuipers, Dustin and wife Jessica Englishman, Ryan Hoogenhuis, Peter Kuipers, Carlin Englishman, Breann and husband Casey Sytsema, Steven Kuipers, Cherie and husband Reade Ferguson, Julia and husband Jon Snader, Emma and husband Andy Phillips, Elisabeth Kuipers, Anneliese Kuipers, and Benjamin Kuipers; cherished great-grandfather of 22 great-grandchildren – Ashley, Damon, Abigail, Brooke, Ryan, Easton, Justin, Makenzie, Sawyer, Joshua, Blake, Madison, Braden, Mia, Jonathan, Cole, Sylvie, Case, Kinley, June, Dylan, and Dean; dear brother of the late Tjalling Kuipers, Oscar and wife Henny Kuipers of Tucson, AZ, the late Charles Kuipers and his late wife Betty, the late Gloria Kuipers, and the late Pete Kuipers; and dear uncle and great-uncle of numerous nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.  

‍

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Gordon’s name are asked to consider Eastern Christian Children’s Retreat 700 Mountain Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ 07481(eccretreat.org/donate), or to Bethany Christian Services, attention: Donor Records, 901 Eastern Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-0294 (bethany.org)