John Vander Giessen

Lynden resident, John Vander Giessen, age 94, went home to his Heavenly Father Thursday, January 27, 2011. He was born September 28, 1916 in Coffee Creek, Montana to James and Anna (Zwaanstra) Vander Giessen. He moved to Lynden with his family in the 1920's and lived all of his adult life in Whatcom County. John attended Lynden Christian schools; held numerous jobs in the Lynden area and traveled to California where he learned the refrigeration trade while working with his uncle John. He returned to the Lynden area, where he met the love of his life Marie Lagerwey. They were married January 24, 1940 and walked side by side for 71 years. Following their marriage, John worked on the John Pilon farm and believed farming was his calling. In 1943 he purchased his own farm in the Custer area; beginning with 18 cows. Over the next 10 years, John transformed this farm from its poor condition into a progressive dairy; utilizing irrigation and a fertilizer program. He proudly built the second milking parlor in Whatcom County. Unfortunately John broke his back and was no longer able to maintain his farm. God had a new plan for him as dairy milk refrigeration became a new venture in the 1950's. John utilized his refrigeration training working with coolers for milk cans and later milk storage equipment. He maintained his connection to the dairy industry and this also provided opportunity to work with his two sons in the dairy equipment industry. John saw the dairy industry progress from milk being cooled by well water shipped in a milk can to the sale of milk tanks ranging from 100 to over 6000 gallons. He was proud to have been a refrigeration engineer at Cascade Cold Storage, working for his friend John Harkoff for 17 years, while operating his own refrigeration business Vander Giessen Refrigeration-later known as Sunset Western Inc. In retirement, John and Marie enjoyed 26 winters in Southern California where many wonderful times were shared with family and friends. John was a member of First Reformed Church. John is survived by his beloved wife of 71 years, Marie. John and Marie were blessed with five children: sons, Dale (Seki) Vander Giessen of Blaine and Jim (Karen) Vander Giessen of Puyallup; daughters, Andrea (Kingma) Hendricks and husband Harvey of Lynden, Annette Scholten of Dana Point, CA and Karen (Darrel) Timmer of Lynden. John was very proud of all his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Ada Vos; sisters-in-law, Alida Crabtree and Claus Schouten and brothers-in-law, Marinus and Matt Lagerwey. He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Kay Gosser and Grace Van Ry; brothers Lawrence, Henry and Don; brothers-in-law John, Bill, Arie, Gerrit, Johan and Nick; sisters-in-law Minnie Konyenbelt and Katherine De Koster and granddaughter, Sheri Scholten. Visitation hours will be Tuesday, Feb. 1, 5 to 7 pm at Gillies Funeral Home. Graveside services will be conducted at 10 am Wed. Feb. 2 at Monumenta Cemetery followed by an 11 am memorial service at First Reformed Church, 6th & Grover St. in Lynden. Memorial donations are suggested to Whatcom Hospice Foundation, 800 E. Chestnut St., Ste. 1-C, Bellingham, WA 98226 or to First Reformed Church, 6th & Grover St., Lynden, WA 98264. You are invited to share your memories and condolences in the online guest book at www.gilliesfuneralhome.com Arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Lynden