POORTINGA, Henry, age 84, of Lynden, died at St. Joseph Hospital on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2003. A son of Anne and Antje (Seminia) Poortinga, Henry was born in Friesland, the Netherlands, on Aug. 18, 1918. He grew up in Holland and was married to Sadie VanderMeulen in March of 1941. In 1947 the family moved to Bellflower, Calif., and in May of 1952 they moved to the Lynden area where he operated a dairy farm on the West Badger Road for many years. Following Sadie's death in 1964, Henry was married to Dena VanDyken in Everson on March 21, 1969. He was a former member of First Christian Reformed Church in Lynden and was a current member of Orthodox Christian Reformed Church in Everson. Henry enjoyed eating; if it wasn't his wife's cooking, then it was at Izzy's in Bellingham. He also enjoyed cracking walnuts. Besides his parents and first wife Sadie, he was preceded in death by three sisters and a brother. Mr. Poortinga is survived at home by his wife, Dena; children Ann and Don Martin of Lynden, Tillie and Clareon VanDrongelen of Corsica, S.D., Mary and Art Doering of Lynden, John "Curly" and Pat Poortinga of Everson, Tony Poortinga of East Wenatchee, Hank and Kathy Poortinga of Bellingham, Sadie and Joe Steiner of Everson, Evelyn and Mar Heeringa of Lynden, Ed and Anita Poortinga of East Wenatchee, Sylvia and Jerry Watson of Ferndale, Gerdene and Keith Morrison of Mount Vernon, and Gary and Diane VanDyken of Puyallup; 32 grand- and 22 great-grandchildren; and other relatives. Graveside services were conducted on Monday, Aug. 11, at 1:15 p.m. in Monumenta Cemetery followed by funeral services at 2 p.m. in First Christian Reformed Church in Lynden with Rev. Al Vermeer officiating. Services were under the care of Gillies Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Lynden.
