Earl Nydam
Earl Nydam was born on Nov. 12, 1943 in Oudega, Netherlands to Frank and Catherina Nydam.
His eternal life began on Nov. 5 in Hemet, California.
He was 78 years old.
Earl came to America when he was three years old from Holland in 1946 with his siblings and parents and lived in Artesia, California.
He met his wife Patricia Nydam in California in their high school years and were married soon thereafter on Feb. 15, 1963. He attended Valley Christian high school and he played on the football team there.
Earl and Pat were married for 58 years.
Their two sons, Dean and Eric, were born in 1964 and 1968.
Their family lived in Rowland heights and La Mirada, California in the 1960s through 1978.
Earl worked at Pepsi Cola and drove a steel delivery truck during this time of his life while raising a family.
Earl and his family then moved to Santa Barbara, California and lived at Lotusland, a world renowned garden estate, from 1978 to 1988, where he got a job as the head gardener.
From 1988 until retirement, Earl and Pat lived in Washington, where Earl was a the park manager for Berthusen Park in Lynden for 17 years.
They then traveled the country in an RV until settling in Hemet.
Earl is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia Nydam, his two sons Dean and Eric Nydam, his brother Dick Nydam and sister Geraldine Nydam.
Earl had five grandchildren: Chloe, Luke and Noah Nydam, Kara and Branden Nydam.
Earl was an avid cactus collector and it was a great hobby for him.
Earl built greenhouses for them wherever he lived.
He loved to hybridize different species of Cactus to make beautiful flowers when they bloomed.
He also enjoyed coaching both his sons’ little league baseball teams.
Earl also enjoyed scuba diving and loved collecting shells from these dives while he lived in Santa Barbara.
He did lots of dives with friends in the ocean and also Catalina island.
While living in Washington, he loved old cars and had two antique vehicles.
Earl collected old farm milk bottles from across the country and milk bottle caps. He donated his milk bottle collection to the Lynden Pioneer museum.
Earl worked hard his whole life to take care of his family. He will be greatly missed but there is joy at the end because he is with Jesus Christ, his forever king.
