Biography

Jan (John) De Jong was born 1884 in Oudemirdum, Friesland, Holland. His wife, Trentje (Katherine) Beuckens, was born in 1885 in Wyckel, Friesland, Holland. The two were married in 1912 and relocated to Boyden, Iowa. Their six children were Henry, Jeanette, Bernard, Frederick, Eunice (Eunice's twin died at birth), and Joanne. Their youngest son, Frederick (Fritz) died young of rheumatic heart disease in 1942. John De Jong worked in building and contracting, and died in 1965 at eighty-one. Trentje died in 1978 at ninety-three. The De Jongs' oldest son, Henry (b 1913) attended Boyden Christian School and Boyden Public School, and graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in dentistry. He served in the U.S. Cavalry from 1940-1942. Lorraine Schol (b 1914) grew up in Little Rock, Iowa, studied music at Drake University, and continued graduate study at the University of Idaho and the University of Washington. She taught school near Little Rock and in Sheldon, Iowa. De Jong and Schol married in 1952, and the couple lived in George Iowa, where Henry practiced dentistry and Lorraine was a choir director and singer. Henry died in 2002 at eighty-nine. Lorraine died in 2007 at ninety-two. The De Jongs' second child, Jeanette, was born in 1914 in Boyden. She attended Boyden Christian School and Boyden Public School. She worked as a housekeeper, a drug store clerk, a hospital cook, and a bookkeeper. She lived with her parents and her sister Eunice during her adult life. She died in 2004 at ninety. The De Jongs' third child, Bernard, was born in 1918 in Boyden. He graduated from Boyden High School and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. After being honorably discharged in 1946, he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He married Winifred Vanden Bosch in 1946. Bosch was previously married to Bernard's younger brother, Frederick, who died four years earlier. Bernard (Bernie) and Winifred (Wyn) had three children: Mary, John, and Marc. Mary attended Roosevelt High School and studied nursing as an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Iowa, where she continued to work as a nurse and lecturer after completing her degree. Mary De Jong married Bruce Gantz, with whom she had three children (Ellen, Jessica, and Jay) and five grandchildren. John De Jong (b 1952) graduated from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines and served in the Navy from 1969-1973, sending letters home from Vietnam. He met Jean Thomas in 1979, and the two were together for many years before marrying in 2012 in Lubbock, Texas. He died in 2012 at sixty-two. Bernard and Winifred’s third son, Marc, was born in 1952 and later lived with his wife Jan in Urbandale, Iowa. The De Jongs' fifth child, Eunice, was born in 1923. Eunice De Jong attended Boyden Public High School. She worked at Boyden Produce, and later at Boyden Postal Service until her retirement. She lived with her parents and her sister Jeanette during her adult life, and died in 2012 at age eighty-nine. The De Jongs' sixth and youngest child, Joanne, was born in 1927. As an adult, she lived in California with her husband Tenas De Jong (no relation) and their children Linda, Karen, David, and Paul. Joanne and Tenas De Jong also had five grandchildren: Teresa and Austin (born to Linda and Richard Cicconi) and Kate, Jessica, and Matt (born to Karen and Frank Allen). Joanne De Jong was diagnosed with ALS later in life, and died in 2005.

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