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Dr. James J. Van Leeuwen

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Weber State University

James Van Leeuwen Obituary

Dr. James (Jim) J. Van Leeuwen DMD "Doc" Jim passed away at his home June 11, 2007. He was born in Ogden, Utah on November 19, 1946 to Claude (Dutch) R. Van Leeuwen and Bernice Lundquist Van Leeuwen. He attended Ben Lomand High School where he was senior class president, graduated from Weber State College, and attended University Louisville, School of Dentistry, graduating in 1974. He served in the United States Navy from 1974 to 1976. On November 17, 1988 he married Tari Turpin, she was the love of his life and their son Matt was the sunshine in both their lives. Jim was a loving husband and father. He loved his daughter Kim and was her biggest fan thru all the years of Swim Competition. He enjoyed boating and was an avid golfer. He also enjoyed being able to help his son Matt learn to golf and supported him in being a member of the Junior Golf Association. Jim also enjoyed his practice and patients and many of his patients became good friends of him and his family. His friends and acquaintances enjoyed his spirit and never failing sense of humor. Jim is survived by his loving wife, Tari Van Leeuwen; children, Matt Van Leeuwen, Jeremy Ranch, and Kim Van Leeuwen, Conyers, GA. He is also survived by his mother, Bernice Van Leeuwen; two brothers, R. Kent (Diane) Van Leeuwen, North Ogden and Dr. Michael (Connie) Van Leeuwen, Draper; father and mother-in-law, Riley and Nada Turpin; sister-in-laws, Tammy (Jeff) Peterson, Boise, Tonya (Jeff) Heaton, West Valley City, and Colleen (Dean) Webb, West Jordan. He is preceded in death by his father, Claude (Dutch) Van Leeuwen; sister, Rebecca (Becky) Salvo, Ogden and mother-in-law, Sally Turpin. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 12:00 noon at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary, 3401 So. Highland Drive, Salt Lake City. The family will receive friends at a visitation Friday evening from 6 until 8 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary, and at 10:30 a.m. prior to the service Saturday. Interment: Valley View Memorial Park. Under the direction of Valley View Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, a scholarship account has been set up at any Chase Bank. In Jim's honor, Tari and Matt request our family and friends in attendance to visit in their golf attire.

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Published by Deseret News from Jun. 14 to Jun. 15, 2007.

Memories and Condolences
for James Van Leeuwen

27 Entries

Bryan & Cory Isaac

July 16, 2007

Tari & Matt.
We are so saddened to hear about your loss. Jim has been our dentist for over 20 years. He was such a wonderful man and will be truly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Kapeka Gaudia

July 11, 2007

Dr. Van Leeuwen was my dentist for over 20 years. I will miss him dearly. I am truly sorry for your loss. Please know that you are in my family's thoughts and prayers.

Sandy Garlick

July 5, 2007

Tari, I just learned of Jim's passing and called to let Erin know. We tend to imagine people will always be in our lives. And never know how to truly express sorrow for those we lose. Please know that you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Don and Sue Sherk and Family

July 4, 2007

We just learned of Jim's passing and wanted to tell you how sorry we are. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Paul Burton

June 27, 2007

Dear Tari,

Very sorry and shocked to hear about Jim's passing, all my best to you and Matt.............

Alyssa Marsh

June 26, 2007

Matt-
I know that you will take care of your mom, and you will be a great rock for her to lean on... I'm very sorry for your loss and I hope you know that I, Alexis, Michelle, and all of your friends can be good rocks too. We love you Matt, with all our hearts and we are there for you whenever you need us, every hour, every day.

God Bless You and Family

Helen Thatcher

June 26, 2007

I am so very sorry to learn about Jim's passing. He has been my dentist for over 25 years. Although I have never met Matt, I feel like I watched him grow up from his pictures so prominently displayed in Jim's clinic and hearing stories about Matt's accomplishments from a proud Dad. My heart goes out to all of his family. God Bless you.

Kim Smith

June 21, 2007

Dear Tari,Kim,and Matt,
I am so sorry to hear about Jim. Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Bill Roberts & Family

June 20, 2007

We will surely miss Jim.

Zach Cononelos

June 19, 2007

Our family was very saddened to hear of Jim's passing. He has been our family dentist for over 20 years. I always enjoyed talking about family and sports with him at my appointments. He was a superb dentist and a wonderful man. We will miss him very much!

Lisa and Tina Haroutunian

June 17, 2007

Dear Matt,
We just heard the very sad news and we are so sorry. Please hang in there and take care of your mom. I know your tough enough to get through it.

Walt and Karen Bills

June 15, 2007

Tari and Matt,
As a family we want to let you know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Please know of our love and concern and sadness at the loss of Jim. He was our friend. May you somehow find peace at this difficult time......All our love,
Walt and Karen Bills and family

Michelle Kersey

June 15, 2007

Hey Matt.
I hope you are holding up alright. I just wanted to tell you that I extend my sympathy to you and I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you are okay. Call me if you want to talk sometime. xoxo

Michelle and Alexis

June 15, 2007

Hey Matt. We HEART you and felt awful when we read this. We hope you are okay and you can call us up anytime. Feel better buddy.

Jim Stith

June 15, 2007

Teri and Matt:
We've not met, I grew up with Jim in Ogden. He was a great guy and I always remember his smile. Warm and friendly. Jim Stith

Judi Gepkens

June 15, 2007

Tari,
We we're so saddened to hear of Jim's death. We will always remember the great times we shared especially the trips to Lake Powell and how much fun we all had.
He was a wonderful individual and will be missed by all who knew him.

May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief.

Sincerely,
Judi & Dutch

Michelle Martinez

June 15, 2007

Teri & Matt,
I am so sorry for your loss, Jim was a great guy. He is the only dentist I have even gone to. It’s been over 25 years. He will be truly missed by my whole family.
God Bless you...

Diane Schnarr

June 14, 2007

Teri & Matt,
We were shocked and saddened to hear that Jim passed away. We feel like you and he have been part of our Salt Lake family for years. You shared in Carmen's "growing up", and we have shared in Matt's achievements from the first day.
Love,
Diane & Paul Schnarr

Rose Kocinski

June 14, 2007

Tari and Matt,
I was so very saddened today when I learned about Jim. What a great loss will be felt by the many many people that knew and loved him. Tari my heart and prayers are with you and Matt. I know the despair that you feel. I know that Jim is in a better place but he will surely be missed here on earth.
May your grief be short and your many memories stay etched in your hearts forever. You truly were the loves of his live.
God bless you both.

Melanie Cisowski

June 14, 2007

May I share with you my message about the young Jim Van Leeuwen that attended Ben Lomond High School with me and a few hundred other kids?
Kids always want to know, "What was my dad like?" Well Kim and Matt I'll do my best to share my perspective about your awesome dad when he was a bit of a younger man.
I went to high school with Jim all three years and shared some of his Junior High years with him as well.
I doubt there is one school picture ever taken of Jim not wearing that big cheesy smile of his. He had to become a dentist because he always wore a smile that melted the young ladies hearts.
Your dad was considered a true "hottie" in his day! He stood tall, blonde and handsome, and to have all that packaged around super intelligence as well, WOW!
All the ladies wanted to date him and all the guys wanted to BE him!
He was an incredible athlete! I well remember watching him play basketball... he was magic on the court and won many games for our school.
As a kid he was friendly to everyone of our classmates! He was a wonderful leader as our Class Pres. and won the nomination easily.
He always wore that smile when he walked the halls and I suspect none of his classmates ever saw him without it.
The last time we classmates collectively saw Jim was at our 30th Class Reunion.
I well remember awarding him a prize for having the youngest child amongst us.. that would be you Matt. I was giving out the awards that evening and when he came up front to get his prize, he pulled your picture from his wallet and he took the mic from my hand and he said to the crowd, "Yeah, I have the youngest kid and look how cute he is!" He was beaming with pride Matt.
We have a BLHS Class of '65 website you can go to. We put together all the school pictures we could get our hands on and they are all on our site. Your dad can be seen from kindergarten up and through our 30th Class Reunion. Please visit our site at this address. www.blhs65.com .. Your dad's pictures are all over it.
I'm sure I can speak for the members of our class when I tell you to always be proud that you are the child of Jim Van Leeuwen. Your father was a man of honor and integrity his entire life and will always be spoken of as such.
We shall miss your dad at our future gatherings, but know this Kim and Matt... all we share about your dad, in our remembrances, will be words spoken of our great gratitude and privilege for having had him in our lives.
Please know that we weep with you. So many of our hearts are truly broken over his passing.

With Big Hugs and Warm Regards
Melanie Bunderson Cisowski
BLHS Class of '65

Robert & Peggy Jensen

June 14, 2007

Peggy and I were shocked and saddened to hear about Jim. We extended our sympathy to you Tari, Matt, and family. May the good Lord watch over and comfort you at this most difficult time. We hope to see you this Saturday. All our love.

Jeff Egbert

June 14, 2007

Tari and Matt I'm so sorry for your loss. My love and prayers go out to you and the rest of Jim's family and friends.

Randy, Linda, Heather, Natalie, Chelsea & Alex May

June 14, 2007

Tari & Matt:
We just saw Dr. Van Leeuwen 2 weeks ago, he was a great guy and he was great with my kids while they were growing up. Last time we talked he told us all about Matt's golfing and what a great boy he is. He has been our dentist and friend for almost 32 years. We are so sorry for your loss, what a nice man he was.

Traci Williams

June 14, 2007

I was shocked and saddened to hear about Dr. Van Leeuwen. I have been a patient of his for over 20 years and even though the Dentist was not one of my favorite places to go - he always made me comfortable and got me to smile and relax! My thoughts and prayers are with Tari, Matt and his family. I'm sure he is out on one of the greenest courses ever!!

Angie & Troy Thomas

June 14, 2007

I am so grateful I was blessed to know Jim. He was such a wonderful and fun person. I so enjoyed working with him and hearing his many stories, most of which were about Tari and Matt. I know how very much he loved them. He proudly told stories of their life together every day for the six years I got to work with him.I know all of his patients felt like they knew his family personally. My favorite things about Jim were his sense of humor and how he had a way with making every one around him comfortable, you felt like you were talking with your best friend. My family and I thought so much of him, we mourn his loss deeply and our prayers are with all of those who knew and loved him.

Bob and Tauna Woolley

June 14, 2007

Bob and I are so sorry for your loss. Jim was a wonderful man and the only dentist I actually enjoyed going to. May God bless you Teri and your family. You are in our prayers. He will be greatly missed.

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