Katrina Mina Wikstrom, age 84, of Douglas, MI formerly of Holland, MI passed away Friday, October 17, 2025 at Douglas Cove Health and Rehabilitation in Douglas, MI.
Katrina Mina VanDomelen was born to John and Grace (Yonker) VanDomelen on December 4, 1940. Her father was a well known artist and business owner in Grand Rapids. Her mother was a teacher, directing plays at Central for many years. Growing up in this environment contributed greatly to her appreciation of the arts, music, science, and learning in general. She was also a lover of animals of all sorts from a very young age. This included everything from the smallest animals such as mice and snakes, to dogs and horses. Growing up with a summer house on Lake Michigan, Katrina grew to love the big lake. She spent many hours boating and fishing, even cleaning her own catch for dinner on a regular basis.
Katrina’s love of learning played a key role in her life. She attended college and became an LPN in 1963. In the early 70’s, she returned to school and received her RN certification. She went back again in the 80’s and earned a masters in nursing, receiving her ob/gyn certification. Katrina was a strong advocate for women’s health and worked at women’s health clinics around Grand Rapids. She was one of the first paid nurses for Planned Parenthood in the early 60’s, specializing in women’s health, prenatal care and pregnancy prevention. In later years, she worked as a nurse practitioner in Holland as well as spending many years in the mental health field. She carried the torch for not only women’s health, but worked most of her life for marginalized individuals; for the unseen and the under-represented.
Katrina passed on her love of learning to all of her children by seeing to it they took school seriously and had access to experiences such as piano and vocal lessons, art classes, special science classes, and even many years of lessons for working with horses and dogs. Her examples shaped who her children are today: Mary went into nursing, David became a teacher, and Anne is a successful business owner.
This enthusiasm for learning wasn’t restricted to just her own children. She ran a cub scout troop and was also responsible for the success of several 4-H horse groups, one of which is still going after forty eight years. She and her husband Dave owned, worked with, and boarded horses for almost fifty years at three different locations. Both children and adults were always welcome at their farm and Katrina was always eager to teach about the large and sometimes dangerous animals.
Katrina was married to her high school sweetheart Dave in 1959. She is survived by her children David J (Susan) Wikstrom, Mary Wikstrom, Anne (Chris) Norton. Grandchildren include David M Wikstrom, Kathryn Cornell, and Beth Willcome; Sam, Jake, and Simon Fanthorpe; Joey, Rose, Frances, Max, and Jack Norton. Great Grandchildren include Elise and Lenore Cornell, and Annabel and Scott Willcome.
A Celebration of Katrina’s Life will be 11:00 am, Wednesday, November 12, 2025 at Dykstra Funeral Homes – Saugatuck Chapel, 520 Lake Street in Saugatuck. A lite lunch will follow the service.
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