Nicholas Lindemulder

Nicholas Lindemulder, age 82, of Wayne, went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Thursday, April 25, 2019.

Nick was born in Holland in a little town called Andijk located in the province of Noord. The name Andijk comes from the Dutch “aan de dijk” which translates into English as “at the dike”.

Nick was just a young boy when World War II was at its height in Holland. When asked about that experience, he recounted the story of a damaged B-17 coming over the fields in his childhood town. The plane was at eye level where he could see the faces of the crewmembers. The tail was partially missing, two of the engines were not running and the plane was full of bullet holes. As the beleaguered B-17 limped westward, back towards England, A German bunker opened fire on it. The bomber looped back around and unloaded its bomb cargo in a last ditch effort to inflict some kind of damage but the bombs missed the bunker and the B-17 continued flying westward. Nick recalled another time when yet another downed B-17 was burning in a nearby field and Nick ran to see it with his father. Upon approaching the downed aircraft Nick saw the pilot sitting upright in the burning aircraft. He could never get that vision out of his mind. There was also the memory of a thousand bombers flying overhead, the sight and sound of which was very frightening to anyone, let alone a young boy Nick’s age.    

In 1949, when Nick was just thirteen years old, his father said “All they do in Europe is kill each other.” He determined in his mind that it was time for a change and decided to seek a better life in the United States. Nick’s family settled in Prospect Park, where countless other Dutch immigrants originally started out. His parents enrolled him in Eastern Academy in Prospect Park where, although old enough to be in eighth grade, it was determined that he should be enrolled in sixth grade because of his inability to read or speak the English language. This never sat well with Nick who was a very bright individual. Consequently, as soon as he got the chance, he quit school. Since it was already quite clear that Nick could do virtually anything that he set his mind to, he went to work as an auto mechanic specializing in automatic transmissions for Boot’s Garage in Haledon.  

In 1955, Nick’s beloved wife-to-be, Jane (nee Elzinga) also came from Holland. She originally settled in Sussex where her father worked as a dairy farmer. When her dad became ill and couldn’t continue dairy farming, she and her family moved to Prospect Park. It was there that Nick had the opportunity to meet Jane. A family friend told him about her and encouraged Nick to call her on the phone and ask her out. The problem was, Jane’s house didn’t have a phone. So Nick had to go there and knock on the door – the old fashioned way. Jane accepted and their first date together was going roller skating in Paramus. They dated for a few years and ultimately agreed that they would love to marry. They exchanged their wedding vows before God, family and friends on Friday, April 11, 1958 at the Bethel Christian Reformed Church on Haledon Avenue in Paterson with Reverend Vos officiating the ceremony. After a brief honeymoon in Ohio, they initially started life together on Cliff Street in Haledon.

Nick continued to work at Boot’s Garage until one day in the fall of 1959, he received a call from Uncle Sam and was promptly drafted into the United States Army. He served in Korea from October of 1960 to February, 1962 followed by reserve duty until 1965. During his Army service Nick also earned his high school diploma and, because he proved to be so bright, he even was encouraged to take some college level classes. Upon returning home to civilian life, he quickly learned that his position at Boot’s Garage, which he was promised would be held till he returned, was actually filled by another mechanic. Undaunted, Nick opened his own garage on High Mountain Road at the Haledon and North Haledon border and he befittingly called it Nick’s Garage. Over the course of the next few years, he and Jane moved to Carbon Street in Paterson, then to Hopper Street in Prospect Park before moving one last time to Wayne in 1965. Eventually, Nick started working for Town Irrigation. Then in 1973, after about seven years of learning the business, an opportunity arose to purchase yet another company called Sun Valley Lawn Sprinklers. Always an entrepreneur at heart, Nick always wanted to run his own company and so, with a fourth child on the way, he risked it all by purchasing Sun Valley Lawn Sprinklers with his brother Cornelius “Case”. They renamed the company Twin County Irrigation and, through a lot of hard work, the business grew and expanded to cover much of northern New Jersey’s need for irrigation and well pump installation and service as well as water testing. For 44 years, Nick got to the office every morning by 7:00 AM, ready to work. This continued until two years ago when he became ill.

When they moved to their house in Wayne in 1965, the home they purchased had an attached garage with a flat roof. To Nick, a flat roof was a complete waste of space. So he added a room above the garage, enlisting the services of his young sons to remove every nail from the wood used in the original construction, because to Nick, that wood was too valuable to just throw away.

Nick could make anything out of wood. A lot of his projects were made from scraps but, by the time he finished, you would think they were made from the finest cuts of lumber money could buy. Some of his creations included a spinning wheel, a finely crafted desk which sat in his living room by the front door, a beautiful entertainment center constructed from the wood of an old dresser, a rocking horse, a well-crafted new banister and spindles for the stair case going from the first to second floor in his house in Wayne, and something in Dutch called a “Stoof” - a small wooden foot stove that had room inside for a heating agent. It was something that was common in the home when he was growing up in Holland where houses didn’t have a central heating system. The Stoof was a very effective little foot stove which family members would warm themselves by putting their feet on it.

From the early years of their marriage, Nick and Jane found beauty and enjoyment in vacations to the Adirondacks near Saranac Lake. It became a regular vacation spot for them and their four sons. For years they rented a house every summer but in 1984 they got the chance to purchase a little place of their own. The house was so remotely located, it was twelve miles either way to the nearest town. The first thing Nick did to the house was to tear off the roof and add a second floor. This, of course, scared away all the mice who had taken free residence in the house. Nick did all the work on the house himself, and the act of doing this he called “vacation.” Of course, doing all the work on his own required and endless supply of different tools. Consequently, the small garage on the property had a plaque above the door with the Dutch words “De Speelgoed Doos” which translates in English to mean “The Toy Box”. It was called this because all of Nick’s tools filled that garage and to Nick, his tools were his toys.

Besides having the ability to fix cars, do construction projects on his homes, and run an irrigation company, Nick was quite a talented artist. He painted beautiful paintings which decorated his home and he showed his work in many art shows, on several occasions, receiving prominent awards.

Nick lived a very active life. It seemed that his hands always had to be doing something and he poured a lot of time and effort into whatever he did, always wanting his work to be the best it could be. While these endeavors were important to him, they were never as important as his devotion to his faith in God and his love for his family. Nick was not just a religious guy, he was a true believer in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Nick loved being with fellow believers in church and, over the years worshiping, originally in Prospect Park Christian Reformed Church and in later years at Preakness Christian Reformed Church and Pompton Plains Reformed Bible Church. Nick always took an active part in the life and ministry of the church serving as a deacon, an elder, a bible study leader, a Sunday school teacher and a Cadet counselor. For many years he made a regular practice of visiting monthly and sharing the bible’s teachings with the elderly residents and shut-inns of the Alps Manor and Atrium in Wayne.  

For the past year and a half, Nick battled cancer. It was not an easy time for him or his loving family. Nick’s battle is over and he suffers no more. Instead, his Christian faith has become site as he enjoys being in the presence of God. His family is thankful for his life – for the joys and the good times that they were blessed to have together and for his great job as a husband, father, grandfather, and brother, and they look forward to that time when, by God’s grace, they will get to see him again.

Nick was the beloved husband of Jane (nee Elzinga), blest in marriage for 61 years; loving father of George and wife Susan Lindemulder, John and wife Susan Lindemulder, the late James Lindemulder (2015), and Reverend Paul and wife Heidi Lindemulder; seven cherished grandchildren: Stephen, Victoria, Ethan, Eric, Julia, Josie, and Joel; and five dear siblings: the late Jerry Lindemulder (1971), Gerard Lindemulder, Agnes and husband John Fisher, Reverend Alfred and wife Nancy Lindemulder, and Cornelius and wife Manuela Lindemulder.

‍

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Nick’s name are asked to consider the following:

Eastern Christian School Association

50 Oakwood Avenue

North Haledon, NJ 07508-2449

If writing a personal check, please make it out to:

The Foundation for Eastern Christian School

You may also donate online at easternchristian.org

Eastern Christian Children’s Retreat

700 Mountain Avenue

Wyckoff, NJ 07481

You may also donate online at eccretreat.org