Stan Heeringa
Stanley “Stan” A. Heeringa, age 76, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Thursday, Dec. 9.
Stan was born March 23, 1945, in Lynden to parents Lewis and Lucy (Haveman) Heeringa. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University.
Stan was a restaurant supervisor at the Royal Fork Buffet. In 1989 the family relocated to Whatcom County where Stan went to work with his brother Ron at Bode’s Precast for a few years and then on to work for Bostec until he retired.
Stan served in the 8th Aerial Port Squadron of the U.S. Air Force, and completed two years.
Stan married Helen Lucas on June 13, 1970. Together they have three daughters.
Stan had a love for gardening both flowers and crops. Along with that love came the fun task of preserving the produce. Pressing the apples, juicing the grapes, canning the pears and beans, and freezing the corn and berries.
Stan enjoyed many hours in the woods climbing through the snow with buddies hunting both deer and elk and in the off season out on the water salmon fishing.
Being a kid at heart, Stan loved spending any time he could with the kids and dogs. Stan was a very hands-on guy and could fix just about anything MacGyver style with a roll of duct tape or some random piece of something he had in his shed.
Stan is preceded in death by his brother Ron Heeringa, and sibling-in-laws Wendall Feenstra, Dennis Lucas, and Bonnie Lucas.
Stan will be greatly missed by his wife of 51 years, Helen; daughters Cindy (Neal) Dykstra, Traci (JD) Klein, and Stephanie (Ray) Moore; grandchildren Cody, Riley, Mazie and Dylan Dykstra, Spencer, Harrison and Whitney Klein, and Karlee and Kendra Camping; sisters Dorothy (Denny) Gross, Ruth Olson, Carolyn (Darrol) Scheffer, Bev (Len) Honcoop, and Lois Feenstra; sibling-in-laws Jean Heeringa, Karen (Bill) Veltkamp, Jay Lucas, Sandi (Dan) Hintz, and Cheri (Alan) Hiatt.
A special thank you to Stan’s high school buddies Arnie, Bud and Bob, caretakers Julie and Alexa, as well as several Sonlight men who were very supportive during Stan’s last years.
Family and friends are invited to Sonlight Christian Reformed Church for a memorial service on Dec. 27 at 2 p.m., followed by a light reception.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Whatcom Hospice Foundation.
