John Kamp

John was born to James and Frances (Van Zanten) Kamp on a farm in Rock Rapids, Iowa on November 17, 1922. In 1924 the family farm failed and John’s father took the advice of his wife’s relatives and moved to Dearborn, Michigan where “Pa” found work on the production line at Buick. John later recounted the tremendous admiration he had for the teachers at Whitmore Bolles Elementary School in Dearborn, who welcomed him despite his limited command of English, since Dutch was primarily spoken at home. Perhaps this is where his love of education was sparked. He graduated near the top of his class at Dearborn High School and against his father’s wishes, but with his mother’s blessing, he enrolled at Calvin College in the fall of 1941.

John’s college days were cut short as the U.S. entered WWII after Pearl Harbor was bombed in December of 1941. A year later, he and his best friend, Marion Snapper, decided to enlist together in the Navy, rather than be drafted into the Army. They were both accepted into the Navy’s newly created V-12 Program, which was created to produce officers for the war effort. After spending his early training at the University of Michigan, John was sent on to Midshipmen’s School at Columbia University in New York City. At that point he made the decision to go into active duty and was sent to Miami for Anti-Submarine Warfare training. His friend, Marion, elected to go into the Chaplaincy Program and was sent to Princeton University.

While in Miami, John visited the local Navy chaplain and told him he’d like to find a Reformed or Christian Reformed Church to attend while he was in training. The chaplain told him there were no Reformed Churches in Miami and suggested he try Westminster Presbyterian. An attractive young woman by the name of Audrey Short introduced herself and invited him to attend a Young People’s get together that afternoon. They were inseparable from that day until he was suddenly activated and assigned to a ship. They had known each other just three weeks when he boarded PC 1197 and went off to protect the waters of the South Atlantic and Caribbean. Their courtship continued by mail and on October 28, 1945 they were married at the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

The war over, the GI Bill provided John with the opportunity to finish his degree at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He accepted a position teaching history at Pella Christian High School in Pella, Iowa in 1947. It was while there that the first of three daughters, Diane, was born in 1948.

After a short stint as Principal of Moline Christian School in Moline, Michigan, John received a call to join a fledging organization in Chicago dedicated to providing Christian education for handicapped children. Now known as Elim Christian Services, the school started out with one class in a church basement. John and his young family moved to a farm the school purchased in what is now Palos Heights, Illinois, occupying the top floor of the farmhouse while teaching students on the main floor. In 1951, daughter Debby was born and shortly afterward the school had it’s first buildings, a classroom/office structure and a dormitory for residential students. A new home was built for John and Audrey and their growing family as Denise was born in 1954.

As John put it, the rest is history. Elim expanded over many years to include a large campus on thirty-two acres. Today hundreds of special needs children and adults attend school and receive services on Elim’s campus. John retired after thirty-five years and moved to Holland, Michigan to enjoy retirement.

One of John’s greatest loves was aviation. He owned nineteen different airplanes over the years and especially enjoyed instructing young people. Several of his students have gone on to careers in commercial aviation as well as the military. His joy of flight was shared by his family also. Brothers Tom and Jim, nephews Tommy and John and daughters Debby and Denise were also private pilots.

This last paragraph is a direct quote from a mini-autobiography that John wrote in 2004:

“The most important things in my life are the goals set for me by my mother and the development of spiritual values by Pa. My wife, Audrey, has guided and counseled me. She gave me three great daughters, all fine students, very successful professionally and outstanding citizens. They are in Grandma’s mold.”

John’s life can be summed up by his devotion to service to special needs children, service to country, service to family, and to the Lord.

John Kamp, age 88, of Holland passed away Friday, August 26, 2011 at Providence Health Care.

John was a veteran of the US Navy serving during World War II. Having gone through the V-12 program he was commissioned an officer and trained in anti-submarine warfare serving in the South Atlantic and Caribbean. John completed his undergraduate degree at Calvin College and earned his masters degree from Drake University. He was an early pioneer in Special Education and after serving Christian schools in Pella, Iowa and Moline, Michigan, he was instrumental in founding Elim Christian School in the Chicago area. The school started with one classroom in 1950 and today serves hundreds of students and is recognized as one of the finest facilities for special needs children and adults in the United States. He was an avid aviator, having owned nineteen airplanes over the years. He particularly loved instructing and was instrumental in training many young people to fly. John retired to Holland where he continued to fly his own plane almost daily. He was a member of Pillar Christian Reformed Church. He was preceded in death by a daughter Debby Kamp, a brother Jim Kamp, sisters Fran Terpstra and Hani Chalmers.

He was survived by his wife of 65 years Audrey and children: Diane and Mike Clayton of Big Timber, MT, Denise and Randy Evans of Bay Harbor, MI; grandchildren: Dana Tuinier and Jonathan McMahon; brother: Tom and Janette Kamp of Bloomington, MN; brother and sister-in-law: Helen Kamp of Minneapolis, MN, George Terpstra of Minneapolis, MN; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A funeral service will be 10:30 AM, Friday, September 2, 2011 at Pillar Christian Reformed Church 57 east 10th street in Holland. Reverend Chris DeVos will be officiating.

Burial will be in Lakewood Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 6-8 PM, Thursday, September 1, 2011 at Dykstra Funeral Homes – Northwood Chapel 295 Douglas Avenue in Holland.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be given to Calvin College or Elim Christian School Foundation 13020 Central Avenue, Palos Heights, IL 60463.

For more information please visit www.dykstrafuneralhome.com