Justin Leenheer

Justin Leenheer, 91, died Saturday, November 3, at home with his family at 4024 Douglas Mountain Drive, Golden, after four months of declining health. He was born in Jamestown (Shack Huddle), Michigan, on May 18, 1921, to John and Jennie (Karsten) Leenheer, the first of two boys to join their family. The family barely managed to eke out a living on their western Michigan farm, and Justin helped the family survive the Depression years by putting many meals on the table from his hunting and fishing forays. After learning he would be unable to serve in the military during World War II, he began work as a machinist at Keeler Brass Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, making screws, bolts, and fasteners of all kinds for over 40 years until his retirement in 1983.

Justin, who was also known as Slim, met his wife Anna Gelder when he and a friend picked her and a friend up as they walked home from church one Sunday evening in 1940. They were married on Thanksgiving day, November 26, 1942, in her home (her mother suggested the date, saying she had to fix a big meal anyway on that day!). Their son Jerry Alyn was born on January 29, 1944; they welcomed their daughter Mary Janeth into the family ten years later on March 4, 1954. After briefly residing in Jamestown, Michigan, the couple purchased Justin's grandmother's house in Forest Grove Station, where they lived for the next fifty years until moving to Colorado in 1993 to live with their son Jerry and his family.

The Leenheers were active in the Jamestown (MI) Christian Reformed Church for many years until they helped to found the Forest Grove Christian Reformed Church in the nearby community of Forest Grove, Michigan. Justin served there in numerous ways, including deacon, church treasurer, and elder. In Colorado, he joined the Rocky Mountain Evangelical Free Church in Black Hawk, contributing both spiritual and practical gifts to that body. After his retirement from Keeler Brass, he and his wife did short-term volunteer work with Wycliffe Associates, the practical branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators, for fifteen years; he put his carpentering skills to work constructing buildings on their ministry grounds. They also volunteered at the Rehoboth Christian Reformed Mission near Gallup, NM. He spent many patient hours in his woodworking shop, crafting beautiful furniture and accessories from native woods; he also maintained a voluminous stamp collection and was a voracious reader. Justin loved the outdoors and enjoyed tramping the woods, fishing, hunting, and traveling the United States with Anna in their camper; he achieved his goal of visiting all 50 states. Many family members have fond memories of fishing or of cutting wood with Grandpa.

Justin is survived by his son Jerry and daughter-in-law Cora Jean of Golden, CO, who cared for him at home until his death, by his granddaughter Rachel (Clint Newell) and great-grandsons Lucas and Silas, and by his grandson Andrew (Rebecca Doherty) and great-grandson Kendrick. He is also survived by his daughter Mary and son-in-law John Deibler of West Richland, WA, and by their daughters Lisa (Ken Craymer), Lauren (Justin Kinker), Bethany (Ronnie Vance), Sara, and Rebekah. Justin is survived by his brother Eugene of Hudsonville, Michigan, and was preceded in death by his beloved wife Anna, by his parents, and by his siblings-in-law Aberdean (Kooienga) Leenheer, Elmer and Jennie Miedema, William and Rena Roeters, Gerritt and Henrietta Gelder, Julius and Jeannette DenBleyker, and Cornelia Ponstein.

Memorial Preference
Wycliffe Associates*
P.O. Box 620143
Orlando, FL 32862

* Donations will be used to purchase translation acceleration kits, which include a small, portable netbook computer; satellite communication terminal; solar panel; battery; and power supply. For more information, visit http://www.wycliffeassociates.org/ministries/project.asp?id=45.