William Scholten

  Surrounded by family, William “Bill” Scholten, age 89, went home to his Lord and Savior on Aug. 30, 2016.
  Bill was born in Edgerton, Minnesota, on June 6, 1927 to Hein and Elizabeth (DeKoekoek) Scholten. He joined sister Gertrude and brothers John, Evert and Bastian. The family moved to Whatcom County in 1936. Bill graduated from Lynden High School in 1945. He worked on the family farm on the Timon Road with his father, Hein. Bill and a few friends decided to take a trip to Southern California where he met his future bride, Shirley Gorzeman. Bill and Shirley were married in Lynden on April 17, 1950. In 1955 they purchased the farm where they raised their family.
  Bill was a member of the Whatcom Dairymen’s Association and he won many milk quality awards from Darigold. He found the time to do some fishing as well as boating and teaching the family to water ski. They were longtime members of First Christian Reformed Church. After retiring and moving to Lynden, they traveled to California, Alaska, Hawaii and other destinations. Bill looked forward to his weekly visits to the Everson Auction with his brothers and meeting friends for coffee. He held a deep love for the Lord, his family and his friends. His faithfulness, gentle nature and ready smile will be missed greatly.
  Bill is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Shirley; daughter Joan and son-in-law Dale Allen; grandchildren Heather (Thomas) Caterson of Bellevue, Rhys (Ming) Platt of Seattle and Kelleigh (Ryan) Anderson of Las Vegas; five great-grandchildren; brother Bas Scholten; sisters-in-law Maggie Scholten and Beverly Timmer.
  He was preceded in death by his parents; son Steven and infant daughter Beverly; sister Gertrude Heeringa; brothers John and Evert Scholten; brother-in-law Herman Heeringa; sisters-in-law Hilda Scholten and Judy Scholten.
  A time of visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016 at Gillies Funeral Home. The graveside committal will be at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 at Monumenta Cemetery followed by an 11 a.m. memorial service at First Christian Reformed Church, 1010 Front St., Lynden, with a reception following.
  Memorials in Bill’s name are suggested to Lighthouse Mission Ministries, P..O Box 548, Bellingham, WA 98227-0548; or Lynden Christian Schools, 417 Lyncs Dr., Lynden, WA 98264.
  A special thank you to Dr. Brian Patterson and staff for their dedicated and compassionate care over the years.
  You are invited to share your condolences and memories in the online guestbook at www.gilliesfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Lynden.