Person talk:William Huizenga (3)

[28 April 2013]

You are exactly right. The congressman was at Calvin College the same time I was, so I was able to compare the student directory and the alumni directory and confirm that his father is Gerald S, the oldest son of William and Alice.

A few other interesting things. Congressman William is married to Natalie Tiesma from Brampton, Ontario. Both of them graduated from Calvin in 1992. Neither of her parents are Calvin alumni, so it is plausible that they were educated in the Netherlands before they emigrated.

Gerald S graduated in 1950. His wife is not a Calvin graduate, so I don't have resources immediately at hand to track her down. But since he was 18 on the 1940 census, we can see that he was older than the usual college graduate in 1950. It is reasonable to assume that that is because he served in World War II. Again, I don't have the resources at hand to say which branch or theatre.

Since his father was living in 2002, the most recent information I have, it is probably not worth making a WR page for William the congressman, but I don't see any problem with putting a link to the congressman's Wikipedia page in the text area of the WR page for William (1894-1976).--henk 11:15, 28 April 2013 (EDT)

[29 April 2013]

LANSING, Michigan – Shared Dutch ancestry has already for some years been a reason for Michigan State House Representatives and State Senators to occasionally informally meet together.

Last month, these State House Representatives went public as a group to introduce a resolution declaring April 19 the Dutch-American Friendship Day. This resolution was formally adopted by the Michigan House of Representatives.

The year 2007 is the 225th anniversary of formal ties between the Netherlands and the U.S.A., acknowledging the presentation of the credentials of then newly arrived Ambassador to the Netherlands John Adams, who later served as U.S. president.

Earlier, the U.S. Congress adopted a similar resolution which since then was signed by President George W. Bush, a descendent of a Pilgrim family who resided for a while in Leyden before immigrating to New England.

The Michigan House and Senate members of Dutch ancestry now occasionally meet as the Tulip Caucus. Although the group was a bit larger in the past decade, there are at least nine known House Representatives and three State Senators with Dutch ancestry, currently all Republicans.

Among them is Rep. Bill Huizenga (Zeeland, District 90), whose family arrived in the U.S.A. in the 1860s from the Province of Groningen. Along with numerous of his contemporaries in the Holland-Zeeland region, he still wears ‘klompies’ at Tulip Time and has married into the Dutch-Canadian Tiesma family of Brampton, Ontario.--henk 14:07, 29 April 2013 (EDT)

H.Tiesma & K. Tiesma Visser (father Adrianus Viseer (1893-1986)