Jacob Dreyer

Jack Dreyer was a hardworking, honest man, as careful as he was caring, as deliberate as he was considerate. He was a chicken farmer by trade, his pastime turned profession. Jack did things his own way, on his own time, but he always did what he could, and what he should. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, who taught us it was more important to do things right, than to do them right away.

Jack’s story began on a cold fall day in 1910, across the Atlantic in a small town in the Netherlands. Those were times of great change across the globe, which saw the inventions of the airplane and the automobile rapidly transform cultures everywhere. On November 29, 1910, Sjouke and Anna (Dykstra) Dreyer had a change of their own to celebrate, with the birth of a baby boy, a son they named Jacob.

Little Jacob, or “Jack” as he would be called, was the youngest of seven children in the family’s home. When he was just nine months old, however, the family boarded a boat bound for the United States, seeking a better life. It was a long, arduous trip in those days, and making it more difficult was the sudden illness of Jack’s mother, who became very sick once on board. Jack’s oldest sister stepped in to care for her baby brother and the rest of the family.

The Dreyers settled in Holland, Michigan, where Jack’s father became a farmer. Naturally, all the kids pitched in on the farm growing up, Jack included. He learned his impressive work ethic growing up on that farm, and also learned the meaning and value in doing things the right way the first time.

Jack attended Lakewood Schools as a boy, and the family faithfully attended the Harderwyk Church each Sunday. There he met a beautiful young woman named Martha Witteveen, who was a part of the young people's group. They hit it off and were married in 1933.

It was the height of the Great Depression, and young Jack provided for his new bride any way he could. He helped his brother on the family farm for awhile, before going to work for the Home Furnace Company, and later the Holland Furnace Company.

As the family grew, the couple knew it was time to build. Jack built a garage on a piece of property, and he, Martha and family moved into the garage while Jack built their house. The house they would call home for so many years, and where they would raise their family.

Jack and Martha were blessed with five wonderful children over the years, Lucille, Ernest, Chester, Ronald and James, who filled their father with pride and joy.

Jack built a chicken coop out back by the garage, and raised his favorite fowl as a hobby. Little did he know that one day he’d be able to count on those chickens for his bread and butter!

In the early 1950s, Jack’s time at the furnace companies began to take their toll, and he needed back surgery. The surgery didn’t go as well as planned, and it became clear his career path needed to change. Thankfully, his hobby had grown to the point where he was making money raising the chickens, and making enough to turn it into his full-time job.

Jack soon left the furnace company to devote all his energy to the chicken business, and before he knew it, he became the largest chicken farmer in all of Ottawa County! He was quite proud of that fact, naturally.

Like the farm he grew up on, Jack’s chicken farm was a family affair, as well. The kids joked that they spent a lot of time in the chicken coop with their dad, especially whenever mom got after them about something!

Jack was a very diligent, hardworking man, and a very precise, careful worker. He had a perfectionist streak a mile long.

Another characteristic of Jack was that he was always late. It was usually by just a few minutes, but he was never on time for anything. He even made the family late for church on Sunday, yet always marched them right down to sit in the very front row.

Jack was a very devout man, and a longtime member of Harderwyk Christian Reformed Church. He was as active as he could be there, and a member of the Men’s Society and the Greater Consistory, in addition to serving on the Waukazoo School Board, too.

Jack was a man who enjoyed life’s simpler pleasures, a hardworking, meat-and-potatoes kind of man. He loved his desserts, too, especially apple or cream pie. He also was famous in his family for his cigars, which were his only vice.

Jack retired from the farming life in 1973, a retirement he so richly deserved. He had more time to spend with his beloved family, who meant everything to him. He especially loved spending time with his 14 grandkids and 16 great-grandkids, and seeing them always brightened his days.

Jack’s beloved Martha died in 1999, after 66 years of wonderful marriage together. Jack persevered, buoyed by his family and his faith. Then in 2007, his health began to decline, and he died on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at Holland Hospital, at the age of 97.

Jack was a wonderful man, who lived a long and wonderful life, a life so full of hard work, family and fond memories. He was a careful, conscientious man, deliberate and considerate, who worked so hard to provide for his loving family. He was a successful farmer, but an even better father and grandfather, and a beloved husband and friend. Most of all, Jack was a good man with a good life, a life we were so blessed to have shared. He will be missed.

Preceding Jack in death was his wife Martha, on June 27, 1999, and a son-in-law, Allen Van Den Berg, on June 27, 2005. Surviving are his children, Lucille Van Den Berg, Ernest (Yvonne) Dreyer, Chester (Mary) Dreyer, Ronald (Barbara) Dreyer, James (Ruth) Dreyer; 14 Grandchildren; 16 Great Grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, 12 noon, at the Mulder Chapel, Dykstra Life Story Funeral Homes, 188 W. 32nd Street. Officiating will be the Revs. Paul Brink and Carl Kammeraad. Burial will be in Lakewood Cemetery.

Visitation is scheduled for Friday, 7-9PM, and Saturday, from 11:00AM, until the time of the service at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to Holland Christian Schools, or to Hospice of Holland.

Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to share a memory or photo of Jack, or to sign the guestbook.