- Date Of Birth: December 16, 1933
- Date Of Death: April 21, 2019
- State: Michigan
Ronald Lee Houtman was called home by his Heavenly Father on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019 in Kalamazoo, MI. He was born on December 16th, 1933 to Henry and Bertha (Dykstra) Houtman. He had 3 older sisters including identical twins Lois and Louise and middle sister Ardie. He is lovingly remembered by Virginia, his wife of 64 years, his daughter Brenda Houtman and son Todd Houtman. His love and guidance has made a lasting impact on friends, family, and most importantly, his two granddaughters Eva and Ella Dahlberg.
Ron attended Lincoln Middle School and often watched his talented older sisters excel in sports – especially softball. He graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1951. While attending Kalamazoo Central, he starred on the high school swim team and was recognized as an All-Greater Kalamazoo swimmer for the 200m Butterfly. He never lost a race.
His mother encouraged him to take scholarship exams as his parents could not afford his college tuition. His high score on one such exam earned him a full scholarship to Western Michigan University where he pursued a degree in Chemistry. After his junior year at Western, he married his high school sweetheart Virginia. His Best Man was his brother-in-law Bill Fisk. Others in the wedding party included his brother-in-laws Ted Dedoes, Bill Smith and nephew David Dedoes as the ring bearer.
Ron joined the ROTC in 1952 and received honors for his marksmanship. Upon graduation from Western, he and Virginia spent 6 months in Fort Lee, Virginia for his active duty training. He was honorably discharged as a captain in the Medical Services Corps in November 1965.
As a young couple, Ronald and Virginia joined 20 other brothers and sisters in Christ to become charter members of Haven Reformed Church. He served as a Deacon, Elder and beloved Sunday school teacher. Ron also loved to sing – actively participating in the church choir and as a soloist for countless weddings and funerals across Kalamazoo.
His first full time job was working as a chemist for the Southerland Paper Company. After a few short months, he accepted an offer from the Upjohn Company as an analytical chemist. During his years in the lab, he was awarded two patents for developing novel chemical processes. You may still find these patents on the internet today.
In 1965, he took a 6-week leave of absence from Upjohn to join five other men from Haven Reformed Church to travel to a remote region of Ethiopia in support of Harvey Hoekstra and his Talking Bibles ministry.
Ron’s career at Upjohn eventually transitioned from the chemical laboratories to management in International Quality Control. In 1976, he was awarded the prestigious W E. Upjohn award for his enthusiastic leadership in providing technical support to International subsidiary control units.
Ron fell in love with sailing and began racing 505s in the late 1960s. In 1973, Ron bought his first Hobie Cat sail boat and often sailed both after work and on weekends on beautiful Gull Lake. In 1976, he bought the special Stars and Stripes edition that remains in our family today. Annual vacations to Higgins Lake with friends and family from Haven Reformed produced treasured memories of fun and adventure.
In addition to his hobbies, Ron was a spirited entrepreneur who invested in an array of exciting ideas with a select group of friends and family. The first notable investment was a 40 acre grape vineyard in Mattawan, producing Concorde grapes for the local Welch family business. His family learned the art of growing grapes and had great fun riding on the grape picker during harvest.
H
is (and his kids) favorite investment was in the High Wheeler ice cream parlor in 1975 on the corner of Westnedge and Kilgore. Ron eagerly assisted in the design and building of the parlor as well as the development of the ice cream creations. During its grand opening, his family spent two straight weeks testing out the ice cream to confirm its high quality. Ron served as the treasurer, his daughter Brenda worked as a waitress and his son Todd worked as a host from time to time. The Houtman family would acquire countless memories and many lasting relationships throughout his 4 years of being a shareholder.
In 1979, Ron accepted an assignment as a quality control manager at Upjohn’s manufacturing facility in Puurs, Belgium. He moved his family to Belgium where they resided for the following four years. He travelled to over 45 countries and embraced the many diverse cultures he encountered.
Upon his return to Kalamazoo, he was promoted to Director and eventually Executive Director of International Manufacturing Operations. Throughout his career, Ron became personal friends with many of his international work colleagues. He and Virginia entertained them frequently, often having them join on many fun adventures. To this day, his family sends Christmas cards to many international friends across Europe, South America and Asia.
Ron retired from the Upjohn Company in 1996 after serving greater than 38 years with the company.
Once retired, his attention transitioned to building a retirement home at North Lake, raising his grandchildren and traveling across the US with his wife and family. In 1998, he and Virginia joined many other retired Upjohn families and purchased a winter home on Sanibel Island, FL.
Ron was a source of inspiration to all those who knew him. He had a tremendous zeal for life and invested much energy towards the well-being of others. This was especially true for his family, where he devoted so much of his love and attention.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Lois Smith and Louise Fisk. On August 12, 1954, Ronald married the former Virginia Ann Smith who survives. Also surviving are two children, Todd A. Houtman of Indiana and Brenda L. Houtman of Virginia; two granddaughters, Eva and Ella Dahlberg; a sister Ardis DeDoes of Kalamazoo; and many nieces and nephews.
