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Anna Balkema

April 6, 2022
Kalamazoo, MI

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Ann Balkema, beloved mother and grandmother, died peacefully on the morning of Wednesday, April 6, 2022, after a valiant battle with cancer. She was born June 7, 1944 in Gorredijk, Netherlands, to the late Garrett and Marie (Rook) DeVries. In 1951 Ann immigrated to the United States with her family, settling in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While there, one of Ann's teachers, Dena Korfker, who was also an author, wrote a book about her, "Ankie Comes to America". The family ultimately settled in Kalamazoo, where Ann met her husband, Henry "Dick" Balkema. Ann and Dick were married in 1963, when Dick was in the Air Force. She joined him in Okinawa, Japan, where she had her first son, Thomas Balkema. Ann worked for many years in the family's electrical contracting businesses in various capacities. She was a talented seamstress, known to make quilts for little ones in the hospital, as well as the christening gowns of several of her grandchildren. She was an avid gardener, enjoyed good books, and even dabbled in photography. Ann liked to travel when she could, with family or friends. She returned to the Netherlands later in her life, with her mom, which made it a very special trip. Mostly she liked to spend time with her family and friends, especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Ann had a deep faith in Christ, and worshiped at Haven Church, where she was a member and had several friends as well as family. Besides her parents, Ann was preceded in death by her husband, Dick Balkema, son Tom Balkema, and grandson John Luke. She is survived by her sons, Jim (Mary) Balkema, Chris (Karen) Balkema, Richard (Charlene) Balkema, Peter (Katie) Balkema; daughter-in-law, Joni Balkema; 18 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren; brothers and sister, Hendrik (Judy) DeVries, Robert (Brenda) DeVries, Ellen (Dave) Gehrman, Richard (Jill) DeVries; and many nieces and nephews. Friends may meet the family from 2:00-4:00pm and 6:00-8:00pm Tuesday, April 12 at the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, 3926 South 9th Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49009 and from 10:00-11:00am Wednesday, April 13 at Haven Church, 5350 N. Sprinkle Road, where a celebration of life will be held at 11:00am. A light reception will follow the service and private family interment will be in Ft Custer National Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. To view Ann's personalized webpage, please visit https://www.langelands.com