Henry H. Dekker, of Malabar, Florida, died on Thursday, June 13, 2013, after a long struggle with Lewy Body Dementia.
A memorial service will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Palm Bay, Florida, on Saturday, June 29, 2013, at 11:00 a.m.
A successful businessman and entrepreneur, Henry was respected by all who knew him and worked with him as a man of deep faith, unshakable integrity, and great wisdom, and will be deeply missed by his family and friends. A firm believer in the Christian faith from his youth, he trusted in the birth, death, and resurrection of his Savior Jesus Christ for the sins of His people; and as the hope of the world and in the sure hope of the bodily resurrection from the dead to new life, at the end of this present age.
Henry was born September 18, 1930, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High in 1948, and then attended the Free University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands just after World War II. Later in his life, as he embarked on a second career as a Christian Counselor, he received an honorary doctorate from the Christian Bible College and Seminary of Missouri.
Henry, as many of his generation, served in the Korean War as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. After this, he was a sales manager and served on the corporate staff of the Westinghouse Corporation, in their appliances division. In 1977, Henry became one of the founders of the Mitsubishi Group of America (MGA), introducing Mitsubishi television and audio equipment to the Southeast, and later served as one of six Vice Presidents in the United States, based in Atlanta.
He retired from Mitsubishi in 1991, where he and Alice then moved to Malabar, Florida, near Melbourne. After this, Henry launched into a second career as president of the Dekker Group, as a business consultant specializing in employee personality profiles. He later became a certified Christian Counselor.
Henry served on the board of Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando) for 40 years; the board of Christian Care Ministries; the board of International Christian Counselors; and on the board of the Good News Doctor Foundation for Autism. In addition, in his early years in Florida, he served as a councilman for the town of Malabar, and participated in the Florida League of Cities.
Henry was married to Alice Zuiderveen Dekker for 61 years. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Mary Dekker; and by his sister, Jo Willemstyn. He is survived by daughter, Pamela and husband Robbie Peele (and grandchildren Deborah, Christine, Matthew, wife Beth, and great-grandson Smith) of Roswell, Georgia; daughter, Susan and husband Doug Mann (and grandchild Stephen) of Malabar, Florida; son, John and wife Therese Dekker (and grandchildren Ryan, Nicholas and Natalie) of Bishop, Georgia; and son, Stephen and wife Keiko Dekker (grandchildren David and Daniel) of Tokyo, Japan.
Condolences may be shared at www.davisseawinds.com.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
2 Entries
Just learned of Henry's passing and was completely devastated. Henry and I did business togetherfor about 15 yearswhen I retired from Rich's in Atlanta and continued to stay in touch untilDec.of 2012. We had a 40 year relationship. My heart goes out to Alice and the rest of the gfamily.
hank freedman
December 14, 2013
I am sorry for your loss. I hope you can find comfort in the words written at (Jeremiah 29:11,12)
JW
June 24, 2013
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