Douglas "Bruce" Moody Ph.D.

1938 - 2022

Dr. Douglas "Bruce" Moody went to be with the Lord on Monday, February 28, 2022. He was born on March 10, 1938, in Goodrich, Michigan, to Kenneth and Winnie (McCully) Moody, and lived in Holly, Michigan, in his boyhood years. He married Phyllis Ver Hulst on August 20, 1960, in Holland, Michigan. He was very proud of his Irish heritage as his maternal grandfather and his paternal great-grandfather both emigrated from Northern Ireland.

Bruce was a graduate of Grand Blanc High School and Flint Junior College, then attended Central Michigan University and graduated with a B.A. and M.A., and went on to Michigan State University to obtain his Ph.D. He was a lifelong member of the Masonic Lodge 406 and Eastern Star, both of Breckenridge, Michigan. He was very proud of the fact that he played football for his high school team starting in his senior year as tackle, and played freshman football when he transferred to CMU in 1958.

Dr. Moody was an educator for 31 years. He taught at Breckenridge and Walled Lake for two years respectively, and was a principal for 16 years in Walled Lake prior to his retirement in 1991. Bruce enjoyed genealogy, listening to Dixieland jazz music, travel, antiques, golf and specialty cars. He was a handyman and enjoyed working on things around the house and in the garage, and was proud of his restored 1943 Ford Ferguson tractor that he had used on the farm as a boy.

He and his wife, Phyllis, enjoyed selling educational books at educational conferences, part time, throughout the USA for a book distributor from Flint, Michigan, in their retirement years. Bruce and Phyllis have traveled to all 50 states and have visited 26 foreign countries. Bruce was a member of the United Methodist Church of the Dunes. Dr. Moody and his family lived in Breckenridge, Michigan, prior to Milford, Michigan, where they spent 36 years before moving to Grand Haven, Michigan, in 1998.

Dr. Moody is survived by his wife of 61 years, Phyllis (Ver Hulst) Moody; daughter, Carol Ann (Michael) Mills of Spring Lake; two sons, Jeffrey Bryan (Melannie) Moody of Spring Lake and Douglas Bruce (Margaret) Moody II of Houston, Texas; beloved grandchildren: Ryan, Bradley, Tyler, Chris and Josh Mills, Jared Englert, Amber (James) DeWitt, Rosa, Brett, Carlton and Oliva Moody; great-grandchild, Jett Munro Mills; and a brother, Allen of Fairborn, Ohio.

The Funeral Service for Dr. Moody will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 5, 2022, at United Methodist Church of the Dunes with Pastor Diane Gordon officiating. Visitation will be held on Friday, March 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Klaassen Family Funeral Home with a Masonic Service at 7 p.m., and one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorial contributions may be made to the United Methodist Church of the Dunes and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Please visit www.klaassenfuneralhome.com to sign Dr. Moody's online guestbook.