Edward Roy Wolters, age 94, of Grand Haven, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Donna, of 71 years in 2020.
Ed was born in Holland to Edward and Helen Wolters on April 24, 1927. He worked at General Electric for 33 years as a tool & die maker before retiring (for the first time) at age 60. In his earlier years, he was known to many as, “Bud”. He then did the work he loved on several golf courses and did some driving for Holland Special Delivery. Ed was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who loved his family deeply, and will be dearly missed by all who knew him. We do celebrate for him that he is now back with our mother and at Jesus’ side. He was a lifelong lover of all things outdoors; mainly golfing (several times weekly in his later years), fishing, and hunting. Dad also loved vegetable gardening, cross country skiing, spending time in northern Michigan, and just being outdoors. He was a wonderful, resourceful, handyman, building all the log furniture in their home (including staircase and stone fireplace). He and mom made so many wonderful gifts for us over the years that will be cherished forever.
Our dad was a very hard worker, but always found time to play with his children; teaching us baseball, fishing, gardening, swimming and water-skiing, ice-skating, how to work with our hands building many different things, pushing us in the swings, teaching us how to care for our many pets, and countless other activities. He had a great sense of humor, was always joking around, and loved celebrations!
This love of ‘play’ was continued for his grandchildren. He and mom also taught us the most important thing in life – how to love Jesus! They instilled in us the importance of worship and involvement even at times when we weren’t always appreciative of those life lessons. He was a longtime member of Ottawa Reformed Church.
Ed is survived by his 4 children – Marcia Smith, Scott (Sandy) Wolters, Kathi (Kurt) Haveman, and Mary (Jeff) Faber; 13 grandchildren – Wendi Folkert, Amanda (Mark) Jones, Alison Smith (Chris), Meredith (Rob) Ravinsky, Samantha (Jason) Grimes, Sarah (Brandan) Glader, Caleb Wolters (Shelly), Danielle (Mike) O’Toole, Susan (Lance) Kornoelje, Ben (Kelsey) Haveman, Elizabeth (Rick) Karel, Justin (Chelsea) Faber, and Shaina (Mark) Strikwerda; 16 great-grandchildren; siblings and in-laws, Bette Derks, Eleanor Wolters, Millie Wolters, Don (Joyce) Wolters, Randy Wolters, Bette Wiersema, and many nieces & nephews.
Mr. Wolters was preceded in death by his wife, Donna; parents, Edward (Helen) Wolters; mother & fathers-in-law, Jacob (Anna) Wiersema, and Lorraine Wiersema Bolt; son-in-law, Larry Smith; siblings, Herbert Wolters, Glenn Wolters, Robert Wolters, Warren Wolters, Dorothy Hegedus & Ruth Wolters; in-laws; Dwight (Millie) Wiersema, Jerry (Julia) Wiersema, Delbert (Glady) Wiersema, Ken Wiersema, & Leroy Wiersema, Annabelle Miller & Shirley Neuman.
Visitation is 6:00-8:00 pm on Monday, September 27 at Dykstra Funeral Home Northwood, 295 Douglas Avenue with funeral services on Tuesday, September 28, 1:00 pm (visitation from 12:00-12:45 pm) at Ottawa Reformed Church, 11390 Stanton St., West Olive.
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