Rev. Henry A. Stegenga
1932-2023

Henry met his Lord and Savior in the early hours of November 6, 2023 and was reunited with his beloved wife, Charmaine.  He was born in Chicago, IL to Henry and Anna (Spyksma) Stegenga.

He is survived by his four children, Karl (Priscilla) Stegenga of Falls Church, VA; Lynn (Bear) Watkins of Newport News, VA; Matt (Kristin) Stegenga of Overland Park, KS; Kurt (Judy) Stegenga of Swampscott, MA; his grandchildren Lindsey, Evan, Zachary, Hailey, and Jacob Stegenga, Misty (Kevin) Prussia, and his great-grandson Caspar Prussia and his sister-in-law Cynthia (Robert) Warn.

Henry grew up in Roseland and graduated from Pullman Technical High School. He married Charmaine Vandermyde after their graduation from Hope College in 1956.  He attended and graduated from Western Theological Seminary in Holland and then took a summer course in Linguistics from the University of Washington in Seattle in preparation for his work on the mission field in Chiapas, Mexico.  He spent 20 years in the jungles of Chiapas teaching in the Ch'ol Bible School under the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.  He learned to speak Spanish and Ch'ol and he used the skills he was taught at Pullman Tech to fix and keep running all the generators, tractors, rice huller and even helped the MAF pilots when necessary.  Another of his many duties was to provide medical assistance when needed and he stitched many a hand up after a mishap with the machete in the fields. He was most proud of setting a 3-month old's leg after it was broken in a fall from her sister's lap in a tire swing.  Her leg healed and she has never limped in her lifetime.

After 20 years in Mexico, he had to come back to the States because of health reasons.  He became an Associate Pastor at Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, MI and then was called as Pastor at Peace Reformed Church in Zeeland, MI.  He retired from Peace Reformed Church and went on to be a calling pastor for Fair Haven Ministries, an interim pastor back at Calvary Reformed, and working odd jobs for Quality Concrete.

Once Charmaine retired, they traveled to visit their grandchildren, explored Europe several times, Alaska, and many trips back to Mexico to see friends.  Henry loved to talk to anyone that he met and loved to tell stories about their time on the mission field in Mexico.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution to the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation, www.pullmanfoundation.org (55 W. Monroe Street, Suite 3460, Chicago, IL 60603).

A celebration of life memorial service will be held at a later date.