A Lifetime of Travel Brings Gordon De Pree Home after 95 Years
Gordon De Pree, age 95, passed away peacefully in Holland, Michigan on June 3, 2026, surrounded by family and the loving care of his hospice team and Farmstead staff.
As a child, Gordon was always interested in people, especially relatives who lived in other states and missionaries who lived in far away countries – like China and Korea. Gordon also had an early love for Kentucky where he regularly went to teach Vacation Bible School in the summer.
In 1948 he read an article in the Saturday Evening Post about the Galilean Children’s Home in Corbin, Kentucky, which he visited in 1952 when he was 21. During that visit, having graduated from Hope College and about to start his studies at Western Seminary, Gordon met Lenore Vogel whose parents had started the Children’s Home decades earlier.
That visit eventually led to Gordon and Lenore marrying in 1955. In 1958, twins Marita and Michael, were born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two more children, Deidra Kay and Christopher Gordon, were born in Hong Kong over the next 8 years.
Gordon got more travel than he wished for when he was sent to Korea in 1956 as an army chaplain, just a few months after being married. Lenore never imagined that being married to Gordon would mean so many moves. Their first overseas job came when Gordon was hired as the Protestant Chaplain at the American Servicemen’s Center in Hong Kong. That job was the start of being Reformed Church of America missionaries in Hong Kong for seventeen years. After being involved in the establishing of a Chinese Middle School (Kung Lee College) and a short return to Pawling, New York, Gordon was asked to return to Hong Kong to build and establish the Guideposts Preschool.
After another short return to the US (New York City), Gordon and Lenore moved again – this time to Saudi Arabia in 1981.
Ten years there provided Gordon with teaching and administrative responsibilities, and Lenore was hired for her writing ability and her lifelong interest in painting. There they enjoyed desert camping and evenings by the Persian Gulf.
Their next move was to North Carolina, where their youngest son Chris was studying at UNC Chapel Hill. Lenore and Gordon lived in the mountains of North Carolina (with a short interlude in Chicago) until they moved to Holland, Michigan in 2014. In Holland, they lived at Baker Lofts and the Warm Friend. They loved their years living in downtown Holland, close to many friends and family members. Gordon made many friends up and down 8th Street in those years. Last summer, Gordon and Lenore moved to The Farmstead, where Lenore now lives.
Their children and spouses live in three different states: Marita and Pete in Virginia, Mike and Lauren in lowa, Deidra and Rob in Illinois, and Chris and Sheryl in Virginia. Their 10 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren live in many different cities across the United States and around the globe.
A celebration of life service will be held for Gordon at First Presbyterian Church in Holland, Michigan on June 29, 2026, at 11 AM.
As we celebrate Gordon’s life, please feel free to dress colorfully if you wish.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holland.
Arrangements are by the Dykstra Funeral Home-Downtown Chapel.
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