Uncle Hank

I went to my Uncle Hank's funeral today. To be more precise, he is my Great Uncle Hank: His wife, Virginia, is my Grandma Vera's little sister. To be even more precise, today was technically his interment, but his children read his life sketch again, his sister Joyce spoke and others were invited to share memories, so it took a long time and seemed like a full funeral to me.

Hank was a valiant fellow. You may remember him at Grandma Vera's funeral. I don't know if you remember Hendrik's Story about his early life or not. When Nazi Germany invaded Holland, he was young. His strongly Christian family hid a Jewish family and was part of the Dutch Underground. Hank ran errands for them without explanation and without knowing what he was doing, so if he was caught he could honestly say he didn't know anything.

Susan's wedding ring diamond is one that he brought to the United States when he emigrated. He joined the church after his mother and sister did (and after his father's death, who died from complications from starvation during the occupation). He was fiercely patriotic, and loved the freedoms this country offered. He was very funny, and I loved talking to him when I was young.

He was 91.

I'm way way way behind sending photos and updates on our lives, but I thought I would send a bit about him before I forgot. You can see some of the interesting things on his timeline of the funeral program photo here, and I nice video tribute is here.