- Date Of Birth: Oct. 14, 1923
- Date Of Death: January 4, 2014
- State: Indiana
Hans van Eyk, 90, of Elkhart, went to be in God’s presence at 9:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, in his home. He was born in Maarsseveen, Netherlands, on Oct. 14, 1923, to the late Maarten and Alida (Verkerk) van Eijk.
On April 25, 1951, he married his loving wife, Jantina “Tina” van der Kolk, in Utrecht, Netherlands. She survives him at home.
Also surviving are his sons, Marten (Dianne) van Eyk of Jenison, Mich., Bert (Nancy) van Eyk of Elkhart and Hans (Carla) van Eyk of Noblesville; daughter Mariejan (Todd) Goss of Elkhart; 12 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. A sister, Alida van Beek of Maarssen, and a host of nieces, nephews and in-laws also survive in the Netherlands.
Preceding him in death were his brothers, Gijs and Maarten van Eijk, and sisters Barndina Veldman and Dirkje van Ingen.
At an early age and by God’s grace, Hans discovered his need for deliverance from sin by Jesus Christ. As a result, he lived the rest of his life with gratitude and hope, trusting in his Creator no matter what the circumstance.
During World War II, as a Dutch civilian, Hans was constantly under the threat of capture by Nazis; he would have been taken as forced labor in Germany’s munitions factories, which were later targeted by Allied air strikes. By hiding in crawl spaces and in swamps, Hans managed to avoid capture, and he joined the local underground resistance militia in Maarsseveen just prior to the Dutch liberation.
In 1957 Hans, his wife and their two eldest children were able to immigrate to Bremen, with the help of Gilgian “Gip” and Verda Birkey. They later moved to Elkhart, where Hans served as an elder at the Christian Reform Church in Goshen in the early 1970s. He then moved his family to Northside Baptist Church in Elkhart, where he served as deacon from 1978 to 1997. His deep relationship with God made him a strong servant-leader.
God blessed Hans with an intensely entrepreneurial spirit, which allowed him to serve his community with humility. In the Netherlands he received formal training in produce farming. Once in America he doubled the size of his homestead, learning carpentry skills that allowed him to become self-employed in the remodeling and roofing business. In 1978 he founded van Eyk and Son Roofing with his son, Bert. He remained active in the roofing business until he retired at age 80.
He enjoyed raising pigeons and goldfish, feeding wild birds and growing thousands of flowering plants at his home. He was also a self-taught musician who could play a variety of instruments. God blessed all in Hans’ circle of influence, even while he battled the cancer that eventually took his life. His life can be best summarized by Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
