Englebert "Bert"J. Gesink

Englebert "Bert" Gesink * January 24, 1939-December 29, 2015

Englebert John Gesink was born in Denver on January 24, 1939. He was the seventh of 10 siblings born to his parents, Englebert William Gesink and Martha Hoekstra Gesink. He was predeceased by five older sisters, Betty Nyhoff, Nelvina Nyhoff, Geraline Gesink, Joan Rickey and Marah Gensink. He is survived by 3 brothers, Gary(Eileen), John(Dorian), Bill and sister Lois Kurth.

He is survived by three daughters and nine grandchildren;
Joanne Gesink and her children, Jackie Buettner Hill, Jesse Buettner and Kathryn Ryan.
Leslie Daly, her husband Brian and children, Jake Williams(Malia), Maddy Stearns Tillman (Dan), John Stearns(Krissy) and Marie;
Diana Dargen her husband Tom and children Emma and Liam.

While growing up, in order to earn spending money and contribute to the family finances, Bert, along with his brothers sold Denver Post newspapers on the street around the Montgomery Wards store on south Broadway. Early on Bert had a knack for mechanics and went to work at a neighborhood auto repair shop, Van Gorp Garage on South Pearl Street. Over the years he was a mechanic for various employers, including International Harvester, where he worked on big rig Semi-Tractors. He finished his career at the RTD, repairing and maintaining the RTD Bus Fleet. He also served the IAMAW Union as a full time Business Agent for a couple of years, where amongst other duties, he negotiated labor contracts. He was very proud that he was working for 'the people".

Bert spent many hours modifying various cars for 1/4 mile drag racing competition and for a time had one of the fastest cars in the Denver area. He was also an avid fisherman and hunter.

In 1960 he was married to Rise' Messner and they became parents of three daughters. In his mid 20's his marriage ended and he was determined to and succeeded at obtaining custody of his 3 daughters aged 3-6. With help from family members he was able to raise three very loyal daughters.

He was very proud of "Bert's Girls" and all of his grand children. Bert enjoyed many outings with them and his boat on the reservoir.

Englebert was named after his father and his great grandfather, Englebert Nyman. He was very proud of his unusual name and often used it as an introduction to conversation with anyone.

Bert was stricken with asthma in childhood and in his later years that evolved into COPD. During the last couple of years he had been in and out of the hospital many times with several bouts of pneumonia, for implantation of a pacemaker and for breathing problems. He also had dysphagia, making it difficult to swallow and speak clearly. Most recently Bert was in the hospital for internal bleeding and then to a rehab facility to regain his strength. After that he moved to a senior assisted living facility and on Dec. 28 he was transferred to St. Joseph's hospital for emergency care. In addition to breathing problems he had a sepsis infection and on Dec. 29, after the medical team administered CPR for an extended time, he departed this life. Throughout these later years he was very tenacious as he strove to survive his afflictions and fought very hard to stay here with us.

Bert was a good and generous man, dedicated to his family, considered "a special character" by all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.

To share a memory with Bert's family, please visit the guestbook below.