Roger Alan Dykstra

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23.  God’s faithfulness to Roger Alan Dykstra, age 79, was made complete when He welcomed him into his Heavenly Home on Saturday morning, August 29, 2020, to meet his Savior face to face and reunite with loved ones gone before him.  Roger was born on Christmas Day, December 25, 1940, to his parents, Bernard and Celia Dykstra in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He often told stories of his childhood days, “growing up on the westside”, especially enjoying Richmond Park.  He was nurtured at Westside Christian School, 12th Street Christian Reformed Church and in his home on Arianna Street.  He graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School in the spring of 1960, and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, serving actively and in the reserves until 1968. He worked at Steelcase Print Shop for 35 years (1965-2001) as the darkroom camera technician.  He was an “outdoors guy”, enjoying fishing, camping, hiking with his buddies and later with his family.  Roger married a Minnesota farm girl, Janet Hoekstra, in August 1970.  Together they raised three sons and enjoyed many traveling adventures to explore God’s Big Beautiful Earth.  They traveled to the east coast and west coast in their RoadTrek to visit their boys and family, enjoying the scenery along the way.  In retirement years, they were able to visit Alaska and Hawaii and many other states, mostly Minnesota.  He loved to photograph these many fascinating places. Rog emanated a “Love of Life” and was devoted to his family - sister, Joyce and brother, Jerry, his nephews and nieces.  For 50 years he was faithfully devoted to his “sunshine”, Jan and their sons, Alan, Brian, and Curtis and their families.  He knew how to play and adventure and exemplified the love of reading a good book.  His grandchildren knew and loved his “funny side”, his collection of hats and that he always expected dessert, especially ice cream. He was passionate about his Lord, Jesus. He participated in mission trips (Belize and Nicaragua) and took on the challenge of working with disaster relief teams for World Relief.  He served at delivering Meals at Home and the food pantry truck in the community. Rog was an active part of the church Fellowship Team and a Kid’s Life volunteer.   His compassion for others led to sitting with a friend with dementia, visiting or phoning others who needed to know they were not forgotten and loved by the Lord. He was an encourager, a clay pot (2 Cor. 4:6-7). He often said, “In this world I am not safe; but in Jesus, I am secure.” Roger leaves many legacies to cherish (including an all-family birthday party every Christmas Day) and will be dearly missed by his wife, Jan; three sons and their families, Alan and Zdenka (Andrej), Brian and Shannon (Poplyn), Curtis and Bonnie (Caleb, Elijah, Natalie); brother, Jerry and Carol Dykstra; sister, Joyce and Jack VanderSloot and their extended families.  Also, he will be missed by his brothers-in-law, Dennis, Larry, Robert, Darrell, and sister-in-law, Marlys, and their families.  We are comforted to learn that during the past four months of hospitalization and rehab following the April 27th massive hemorrhagic stroke, Rog was lovingly cared for at Butterworth Intensive Care, Select Specialty Hospital and finally at Spectrum Rehab and Continuing Care.  Thank you to all who enjoyed him and made an effort to communicate with him even though he could not speak.  Thank you for going the extra lengths to kindly care for him when family could not be present due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Thank you for your stories of how you were drawn to him and your kind words. God heard the many prayers of his people and granted Rog His comfort and peace that was evident to his caregivers.  A private graveside service for immediate family will be held on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, at Georgetown Township Cemetery.  A memorial service for immediate and extended family will be held on Thursday, September 17.  The memorial service will be recorded, and friends and family are encouraged to view it later via the MKD Funeral Home website. Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on “watch recorded service here.” In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to World Renew (www.worldrenew.net) or Resonate Global Mission (www.resonateglobalmission.org).