Alvin York

Alvin E. York, age 93, died February 21, 2013 in his daughter’s home. Born in Iowa to the late Mabel and Harry York on June 13, 1919, he was preceded in death by brother, Marvin; sister, Eloise; loving wife, Arlene; daughter, Mary York; and great-granddaughter, Mara Rubley.

Serving in the Army in WWII, he was stationed in the Pacific as a Master Sergeant. While employed by Link Belt Speeder in the early 1940’s, he met his beloved wife of 61 years, Arlene (Mertens) York, the classiest woman he ever met. They were married on September 6, 1943 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where they made their home. He was later hired by Clark Equipment Company of Benton Harbor to head their service department. Upon retirement in 1989, he moved to the Douglas/Holland area with Arlene.

Survivors include a daughter, Cindy (Larry) Eichler of Petersburg; son, John York of Illinois; sister, Elaine and niece, Diane of California; 2 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

The family would like to give a heartfelt thank you to staff at both Hospice of Holland and Heartland Hospice of Michigan.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 AM on Wednesday, February 27th at St. Peters Church in Douglas.

Visitation will be 2-6 PM Tuesday, February 26th at the Dykstra Funeral Homes-Mulder Chapel, 188 West 32nd Street. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Alvin’s name to Heartland Hospice Care or Hospice of Holland.