This story is continued from our Feb 12 edition.

Klaas and Alice’s first son, Calvin Wayne, was welcomed into the family on January 2, 1946. He married Cheri Brink on June 21, 1966, and they had four children. In 1968, Cal graduated from Dordt, then taught at Edgerton Christian Elementary School (ECES) for 4 years. He worked at Brink Implement for 8 years as bookkeeper and lawn/garden repairman, then part-time as bookkeeper while selling 4X4 feeds. He returned to ECES in 1983 to teach 4th grade for 17 years, then served as the principal from 2000 to 2008. Cal served in the Army National Guard from 1970 to 1976. He was a Sgt. E-5 in a mortar platoon. Cal volunteered as an EMT with the Edgerton Ambulance Service for 35 years. In 1979, he organized the Edgerton Cadet Club and was a counselor for ten years. Cal traveled to Haiti and volunteered at Children of the Promise. He is currently the president of the board for Bibles for Missions Thrift Store in Worthington, where he also volunteers.

Delmar Dean was born on March 21, 1947. After graduation from Dordt, Del served in the United States Marine Corp from 1969 to 1971, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. He married Gwen Droog in 1971, and they were blessed with four children. Del worked as a teacher and administrator at five Christian schools in Arizona, California, Iowa, and Colorado. Del and Gwen and their children have gone on many mission trips to Mexico, did disaster relief with Samaritan’s Purse and others, and served in inner city Gospel Rescue Mission. Del served as Dean of Boys at Royal Kids Camp. They were foster parents at Redeemer Ranch where they cared for and schooled six developmentally disabled boys. They volunteered in a homeless shelter and helped build Habitat for Humanity type houses. In the 1980’s, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Del traveled there three times. Each time he spent three weeks training public school teachers to teach Biblical truth in their classrooms. Since 2015, Del has been volunteering with Equipping Leaders International (ELI), training pastors and Christian educators in developing world countries. Del traveled with ELI to Liberia four times, twice to Nepal, and twice to Bangladesh.

Del remembers that, as a child, each year after the Leota Christian Christmas program, the church provided a bag of candy to every child. When it was time to go home, Klaas showed up with bags of candy, then drove around Leota, delivering them to the elderly/shut-ins who were unable to make it to the program. “Seeing the recipient’s happy smiling faces was a heartwarming experience,” Del said. “It was one of the best parts of the Christmas season.”

Del added, “Church attendance was important for our parents. This meant getting up at 5 a.m. to get the cows milked, livestock fed, then breakfast. Mom got the little ones ready for the 9:30 a.m. service and again in the afternoon. By example they taught us to enjoy worship always, not just when it was convenient.”