Former City of Holland official Jodi Syens has died

HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Jodi Sue Syens,  perhaps best known for her 40-year-career working for the City of Holland, has died.

She was 67.

The Holland native graduated from Hope College in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, but by then, she’d already started her public career service, with a work-study job as a cashier in the City of Holland’s treasurer’s office.

She went on to hold a variety of roles with the city, including assistant city manager and director of transportation and parks and recreation, along with serving on boards for local nonprofits, including the Holland Museum and Tulip Time, according to her LinkedIn profile, which also notes she earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in public policy and administration in 1978.

After her retirement, she worked as a consultant on city projects.

Holland Mayor Nathan Bocks told WHTC she was “the model of a public servant.”

“I had the honor and privilege of working with Jodi on many projects over the years,” he wrote. “We first met as members of the Tulip Time Board.  Jodi was an encyclopedia of Tulip Time and City of Holland history.  She seemed to know everyone and everything that had and was happening our community.  In recent years we worked together on the Holland in Bloom Committee, the living Wizard of Oz Book in Centennial Park and the Oz Project statutes at Herrick District Library.  She was a good friend. I will miss her smile and quick wit. Her legacy and gift of service to the people of Holland will live on for generations to come.”