Connie Brink, age 56, of Lynden, went to be with her Lord and Savior while the family was by her side in her home Sept. 13, 2017 after fighting leukemia for three and a half years.
She was born Nov. 21, 1960 to Rod Ten Kley and Mary Jane Haak. She attended Lynden High School and met her best friend and husband, Jeff, while working at the fair one summer. When asked for her number, she told him, “It’s in the phone book,” and thus began a sweet love story that would have 38 years of marriage attached to it. After graduating high school, they would together have 14 children (two biological and 12 adopted) and 11 grandchildren.
Connie found it an honor, joy and privilege to take care of her husband, children and home, and even ended up home-schooling her kids for a total of 25 years. Within those 25 years, she had faithful Thursday night date nights with the love of her life, involving anything from dinner to coffees and a ride, or just going antiquing. In her free time, she enjoyed looking for vintage collectables or reading a good book.
Connie was filled with a joy and love for the Lord that was felt immediately by anyone who met her. She loved the Lord, her husband, children and grandchildren deeply, and nothing gave her more joy than to serve and be with them.
Connie was preceded in death by grandparents Marvin and Henrietta Ten Kley, and Grant and Alpha Chilton; mother- and father-in-law Al and Nell Brink; her uncles Mike Ten Kley and Doug Ten Kley; and niece Stacy Scott.
She is survived by her husband, Jeff; children Brandon (wife Heather, children Wyatt, Madelyn and Jackson), Britton (wife Jessica, children Angelina, Isaac and Levi), Ashten (child Zephaniah), Calianne Hess (husband William), Catherine, Sydney Finton (husband Kaalim, children Tyler and Tristan), Magdalena Byrd (husband Yusuf, children Nefertiti and Cleopatra), Mercedes, Alexandra, Dakotah, Dylan, Josefina, Francesca and Dominick; parents Rod Ten Kley (wife Lori) and Mary Jane Haak (husband Ken); brothers Craig Ten Kley (wife Sherry) and Kent Ten Kley (wife Jamie); sister Emily Heystack (husband Luke) and Olivia Ten Kley.
She accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior at a young age, and all throughout her life she sought to serve and please Him. Her lifelong goal and desire was for Christ to be glorified in her life. She would often quote John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
A memorial service will be held in Grace Baptist Church of Lynden at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23.
Please share your thoughts and memories online at www.sigsfuneralservices.com.
