Stamboom familie Eilders » John Bert Harken (1907-2004)

Persoonlijke gegevens John Bert Harken 

• Hij is geboren op 25 november 1907 in Austinville, Butler County, Iowa.

  Let op: Was jonger dan 16 jaar (11) toen kind (Bernice May Harken) werd geboren (14 mei 1919).

• Hij werd gedoopt in Westfriesland Presbyterian Church.
• Hij is overleden op 21 december 2004 in Zeeland Hospital, Zeeland, Michigan, hij was toen 97 jaar oud.
• Hij is begraven op 24 december 2004 in Pilgrin Home Cemetery, Netherlands, Ottawa, Michigan.
• Een kind van Reemt U Harken en Ipana Jansonius

Gezin van John Bert Harken

Hij is getrouwd met Nellie van Someren.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 25 oktober 1945 te Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Allison, Butler, Iowa, hij was toen 37 jaar oud.

Kind(eren):

1. Bernice May Harken  1919-2019 

Notities over John Bert Harken

John Bert Harken was 4 years old when his folks moved to Austinville onMarch 1, 1912. He remembers moving with a bobsled; the heating stove wasalso on the sled and it was still smoking, that they had to go throughthe fields part of the way, and his dog "Trixie" was on the sled with them

He grew up there in Austinville, Iowa and graduated from the Ackley HighSchool in 1926. His transportation was first by train and later he didchores for Bill Miller and drove a horse into town. After graduation heworked as a hired hand on several farms. This was at the time hired menworked for $15.00 a month during the spring, summer, and fall, and onlyroom and board in the winter. For several winters, John worked in hisDad's store. He farmed in Iowa for 19 years: first with his sister andbrother-in-law, Gertrude and Louie Ontjes; later on his own 120 acres.

John was active in the Allison-Bristow Christian Reformed Church and metNell van Someren through her brother-in-law who was the minister in thechurch. John and Nell continued farming until 1955 when they moved toHolland MI. John worked in a clock factory and Nell worked in a bakery.Here they were active in the Holland Heights Christian Reformed Church,John again as elder and Nell as a Sunday School and vacation Bible schoolteacher.

In retirement John did part-time work for an auto dealer driving cars tonorthern Michigan. In 1992 they sold their home in Holland and moved toa retirement home in Zeeland, Michigan

Thoughts from Nephew Dennis Harken

Aunt Vi - I think I would also like to weigh in with some thoughts aboutUncle John. When it was first discovered that my Dad (Urban) had MS heand my Mother(Louise) spent a couple of summers traveling the countryvisiting clinics etc. finding out more about the disease and looking formedical assistance. During several weeks one of these summers, UncleJohn and Aunt Nell were kind enough to take care of me while my sisterLinda stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Harken and my brother Dick traveledwith my parents.

I think I was 10-12 years old at the time and Uncle John made sure this"city boy" learned a lot about farming during my stay. I found out whatan onerous task it was to clean out a chicken house and how itchy onecould get from spending much of a day moving oats around in a bin as itwas dumped from combining work. I also learned that working in the haymow moving bales of hay was really hard work. I learned that when youwere sent to get the cows for milking, just because they began to gatheraround an attack was not imminent there was no reason to climb a tree andyell for help.

One day Uncle John, do doubt because he was going to do something that myassistance would be a hindrance, told me I could play in the creek thatran through one of his corn fields. Well, I built a dam which I didn'tthink would be a problem because there was hardly any water flowing.Don't you know that that night we had a torrential rain that wiped outseveral rows of corn near the creek because it overflowed its banks. Inever told him, or Aunt Nell, but to this day I still think that my damhad something to do with this mini-flood.

Suffice it to say, because of this stay with Uncle John and also laterwith my Uncle Joe in NW Iowa in a similar situation, I learned the hardway enough about farming to be able to understand at least a little bitabout farming concerns and issues which was very helpful as I began myeducation career during which time I worked in primarily ruralenvironments. My true "city boy" stories about my stay on the farmexperiences were always good for a few laughs.

Mostly I remember how kind Uncle John and Aunt Nell were to a homesickyoungster who at the time didn't really understand why his parents hadleft him for such a long period of time. While they didn't have anychildren of their own, for at least a few weeks they served admirably asmy parents, something I have always appreciated and has meant more to meover the years.
Dennis

Thoughts from Nephew, Ronald Harken

Uncle Bob I am so sorry that you have lost your oldest Brother. What canI say; not much but I do recall some happy times that I got to spend withhim. My first recollection is his farm years before he met his truelove. I think I or Dad was driving a load of hay back from the field tothe barn and managed to tip it over. Of course as the years past we gotto see Uncle John during a few of his visits to my Father. They are allenjoyable memories.

Uncle John lived a long life to its fullest. May we both be sofortunate. Happy memories help us to overcome our grief. I am surethat you have many happy memories and it would be nice if you would sharethem with your Family. You have a very large Family to share yourfeelings with. For some strange reason I am not overly Sad that UncleJohn has passed on to a better life. I kind of feel like he has earnedit. It is a reward for a life lived correctly as his father intended. Iwonder if a person ever really dies in a way the collective memories ofthe people that new him go one for ever.

UNCLE JOHN Harken

I have been doing some reminiscing the past few days about times spentwith Uncle John. One of the times I remember was when we went to theHarken and Ontjes farm, where it was, I do not know, but we were there tocelebrate a special day with a big dinner. I suppose the ladies said,"Get these kids out of the house!" so Uncle John and Uncle Louie took usfor a walk out into the pasture to see some live stock and to see somespecial berry bushes. Uncle John was always able to make thingsinteresting whenever visiting with him. Another was when Uncle Louieand Uncle John hosted a big Harken reunion (I don't know how manygenerations were involved) to a pond to do some fishing along with ourpicnicking. Uncle John and others were baiting all of the children'shooks and taking the bullheads off the hooks for us. Someone noticed howsunburned I was getting so they put me in the shade of a bush. Evidentlythe bullheads also liked the shade that was over the pond and after 3fish Uncle John said, "I might just as well stay right here." I don'tknow how many little fish I caught, but I thought it was a lot butprobably none worth keeping.
The wedding of Uncle John and Aunt Nell was the first time I had been toa wedding where there was a Master of Ceremonies at the reception. Theirbrother in law told a few jokes, one of which I still recall.
When Uncle John and Aunt Nell sold the farm and moved to Zeeland (1955, Ibelieve) and then built a house in Holland they took jobs in Zeeland,Aunt Nell in the bakery and Uncle John at the Colonial Clock factory.Aunt Nell was such an outgoing person that she knew not only thecustomers names, but their families, illnesses, church membership andmuch more.
Soon after they joined the Holland Heights Christian Reformed ChurchUncle John was asked to serve on the church council. He said that he washesitant to do so in such a large church. Their reply was that he hadpreviously been an elder and served on a church council. Uncle Johnstated, "Yes, but your council meetings are larger than ourcongregational meetings." (at Bethel church Allison, Iowa) Uncle John wasattending the Holland Heights church faithfully. When we last visitedhim in June he was going every Sunday morning.
When we moved to the Grand Rapids area in 1957 we were only about 25miles from Uncle John and Aunt Nell and they included us in a number ofthings. I recall his deluxe black and white Pontiac which we took to doan autumn color tour in Michigan. Also, we went with them to Detroit tosee with them our first, and possibly only, 3D movie.
Uncle John always bought the nicest car in the model he chose and alwayswas a dapper dresser, getting his suits and hats from Jurgens andHoltfluer (sp?) on Grandville, Ave., Grand Rapids. Because he alwaysstood so straight and was so broad shouldered, he would have to have hiscoats tailored and they always fit him perfectly.
Rev. Rozendal was pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church ofZeeland until 1961. Mrs. Rosendale (Margaret) was Aunt Nell's sister andAunt Nell included our family and the Rozendal family at some greatholiday dinners at their new home on Glendale Ave. Aunt Nell could fixsome wonderful meals. No one could do roasts or ham and gravy anybetter. Mrs. Rozendal was of much help to Uncle John the past few years.
Our children remember so well playing shuffleboard in their basement.The basement was long enough to put in a shuffleboard court made of tileand we used it often when we first moved to the area.
Steven was born on Uncle John's 50th birthday and they recall a number ofbirthday celebrations at Bill Knapp's restaurant where they served abirthday cake if you were there on your birthday. If you recall UncleJohn's charming grin you can picture him as they would come to serve the"free" cake. In later years he also enjoyed going occasionally to BillKnapps on his birthday because they gave a percentage discount based onyour age. Again the grin would appear when they would check his driver'slicense and he would get the large discount.
The Colonial factory recognized Uncle John's conscientious effort rightaway and soon offered him a foreman's position. This was a non-unionshop and he saw that the salaried people had no choice about working onSaturday or long hours when production was behind, so he consistentlyturned down the offers. I encouraged him to pursue it next time becausethey would not want to lose such a valuable employee and he could alwaysgo back to the regular work if he didn't like being a foreman. Hefinally did accept the position as shipping foreman. He had neverpursued the offers far enough to learn about the salary and he wasamazed how much better they paid the salaried people than he had beenearning. I believe he said that they almost doubled his pay.
When he saw that children and grandchildren were invited to the companypicnics he asked if he could bring a nephew and family since he had nochildren. As a result our family joined Uncle John and Aunt Nell at acouple of their company picnics.
Their home in Holland was always the most comfortable, draft free home Ihave ever been in. With their baseboard hot water heating and their airconditioning it was always just right. One summer they came to spend aweekend in Toledo and we had no air conditioning. They did not complain,but neither did they reject an offer to take a ride in our airconditioned car. I don't know how many miles we put on that night but wedidn't want to stop. They came down a couple times a year for a whileand one time we took them to a Libbey Glass outlet store. We went ourseparate ways and found things that we wanted. When we got home and werewashing our drinking glasses Uncle John said, " I think we bought somejust like those." We discovered that we hadpurchased identical sets.
Uncle John was not only loved by his family, he was also a favorite of somany. Everyone knew Uncle John at the retirement center and all alwaysmarveled how tender and loving he was to Aunt Nell during her last yearsat the retirement center and at the nursing home. He went everyday tovisit her and later on every day to feed her as she didn't eat well whenshe was left alone.

John Bert Harken was 4 years old when his folks moved to Austinville onMarch 1, 1912. He remembers moving with a bobsled; the heating stove wasalso on the sled and it was still smoking, that they had to go throughthe fields part of the way, and his dog "Trixie" was on the sled with them

He grew up there in Austinville, Iowa and graduated from the Ackley HighSchool in 1926. His transportation was first by train and later he didchores for Bill Miller and drove a horse into town. After graduation heworked as a hired hand on several farms. This was at the time hired menworked for $15.00 a month during the spring, summer, and fall, and onlyroom and board in the winter. For several winters, John worked in hisDad's store. He farmed in Iowa for 19 years: first with his sister andbrother-in-law, Gertrude and Louie Ontjes; later on his own 120 acres.

John was active in the Allison-Bristow Christian Reformed Church and metNell van Someren through her brother-in-law who was the minister in thechurch. John and Nell continued farming until 1955 when they moved toHolland MI. John worked in a clock factory and Nell worked in a bakery.Here they were active in the Holland Heights Christian Reformed Church,John again as elder and Nell as a Sunday School and vacation Bible schoolteacher.

In retirement John did part-time work for an auto dealer driving cars tonorthern Michigan. In 1992 they sold their home in Holland and moved toa retirement home in Zeeland, Michigan

Thoughts from Nephew Dennis Harken

Aunt Vi - I think I would also like to weigh in with some thoughts aboutUncle John. When it was first discovered that my Dad (Urban) had MS heand my Mother(Louise) spent a couple of summers traveling the countryvisiting clinics etc. finding out more about the disease and looking formedical assistance. During several weeks one of these summers, UncleJohn and Aunt Nell were kind enough to take care of me while my sisterLinda stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Harken and my brother Dick traveledwith my parents.

I think I was 10-12 years old at the time and Uncle John made sure this"city boy" learned a lot about farming during my stay. I found out whatan onerous task it was to clean out a chicken house and how itchy onecould get from spending much of a day moving oats around in a bin as itwas dumped from combining work. I also learned that working in the haymow moving bales of hay was really hard work. I learned that when youwere sent to get the cows for milking, just because they began to gatheraround an attack was not imminent there was no reason to climb a tree andyell for help.

One day Uncle John, do doubt because he was going to do something that myassistance would be a hindrance, told me I could play in the creek thatran through one of his corn fields. Well, I built a dam which I didn'tthink would be a problem because there was hardly any water flowing.Don't you know that that night we had a torrential rain that wiped outseveral rows of corn near the creek because it overflowed its banks. Inever told him, or Aunt Nell, but to this day I still think that my damhad something to do with this mini-flood.

Suffice it to say, because of this stay with Uncle John and also laterwith my Uncle Joe in NW Iowa in a similar situation, I learned the hardway enough about farming to be able to understand at least a little bitabout farming concerns and issues which was very helpful as I began myeducation career during which time I worked in primarily ruralenvironments. My true "city boy" stories about my stay on the farmexperiences were always good for a few laughs.

Mostly I remember how kind Uncle John and Aunt Nell were to a homesickyoungster who at the time didn't really understand why his parents hadleft him for such a long period of time. While they didn't have anychildren of their own, for at least a few weeks they served admirably asmy parents, something I have always appreciated and has meant more to meover the years.
Dennis

Thoughts from Nephew, Ronald Harken

Uncle Bob I am so sorry that you have lost your oldest Brother. What canI say; not much but I do recall some happy times that I got to spend withhim. My first recollection is his farm years before he met his truelove. I think I or Dad was driving a load of hay back from the field tothe barn and managed to tip it over. Of course as the years past we gotto see Uncle John during a few of his visits to my Father. They are allenjoyable memories.

Uncle John lived a long life to its fullest. May we both be sofortunate. Happy memories help us to overcome our grief. I am surethat you have many happy memories and it would be nice if you would sharethem with your Family. You have a very large Family to share yourfeelings with. For some strange reason I am not overly Sad that UncleJohn has passed on to a better life. I kind of feel like he has earnedit. It is a reward for a life lived correctly as his father intended. Iwonder if a person ever really dies in a way the collective memories ofthe people that new him go one for ever.

UNCLE JOHN HARKEN

I have been doing some reminiscing the past few days about times spentwith Uncle John. One of the times I remember was when we went to theHarken and Ontjes farm, where it was, I do not know, but we were there tocelebrate a special day with a big dinner. I suppose the ladies said,"Get these kids out of the house!" so Uncle John and Uncle Louie took usfor a walk out into the pasture to see some live stock and to see somespecial berry bushes. Uncle John was always able to make thingsinteresting whenever visiting with him. Another was when Uncle Louieand Uncle John hosted a big Harken reunion (I don't know how manygenerations were involved) to a pond to do some fishing along with ourpicnicking. Uncle John and others were baiting all of the children'shooks and taking the bullheads off the hooks for us. Someone noticed howsunburned I was getting so they put me in the shade of a bush. Evidentlythe bullheads also liked the shade that was over the pond and after 3fish Uncle John said, "I might just as well stay right here." I don'tknow how many little fish I caught, but I thought it was a lot butprobably none worth keeping.
The wedding of Uncle John and Aunt Nell was the first time I had been toa wedding where there was a Master of Ceremonies at the reception. Theirbrother in law told a few jokes, one of which I still recall.
When Uncle John and Aunt Nell sold the farm and moved to Zeeland (1955, Ibelieve) and then built a house in Holland they took jobs in Zeeland,Aunt Nell in the bakery and Uncle John at the Colonial Clock factory.Aunt Nell was such an outgoing person that she knew not only thecustomers names, but their families, illnesses, church membership andmuch more.
Soon after they joined the Holland Heights Christian Reformed ChurchUncle John was asked to serve on the church council. He said that he washesitant to do so in such a large church. Their reply was that he hadpreviously been an elder and served on a church council. Uncle Johnstated, "Yes, but your council meetings are larger than ourcongregational meetings." (at Bethel church Allison, Iowa) Uncle John wasattending the Holland Heights church faithfully. When we last visitedhim in June he was going every Sunday morning.
When we moved to the Grand Rapids area in 1957 we were only about 25miles from Uncle John and Aunt Nell and they included us in a number ofthings. I recall his deluxe black and white Pontiac which we took to doan autumn color tour in Michigan. Also, we went with them to Detroit tosee with them our first, and possibly only, 3D movie.
Uncle John always bought the nicest car in the model he chose and alwayswas a dapper dresser, getting his suits and hats from Jurgens andHoltfluer (sp?) on Grandville, Ave., Grand Rapids. Because he alwaysstood so straight and was so broad shouldered, he would have to have hiscoats tailored and they always fit him perfectly.
Rev. Rozendal was pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church ofZeeland until 1961. Mrs. Rosendale (Margaret) was Aunt Nell's sister andAunt Nell included our family and the Rozendal family at some greatholiday dinners at their new home on Glendale Ave. Aunt Nell could fixsome wonderful meals. No one could do roasts or ham and gravy anybetter. Mrs. Rozendal was of much help to Uncle John the past few years.
Our children remember so well playing shuffleboard in their basement.The basement was long enough to put in a shuffleboard court made of tileand we used it often when we first moved to the area.
Steven was born on Uncle John's 50th birthday and they recall a number ofbirthday celebrations at Bill Knapp's restaurant where they served abirthday cake if you were there on your birthday. If you recall UncleJohn's charming grin you can picture him as they would come to serve the"free" cake. In later years he also enjoyed going occasionally to BillKnapps on his birthday because they gave a percentage discount based onyour age. Again the grin would appear when they would check his driver'slicense and he would get the large discount.
The Colonial factory recognized Uncle John's conscientious effort rightaway and soon offered him a foreman's position. This was a non-unionshop and he saw that the salaried people had no choice about working onSaturday or long hours when production was behind, so he consistentlyturned down the offers. I encouraged him to pursue it next time becausethey would not want to lose such a valuable employee and he could alwaysgo back to the regular work if he didn't like being a foreman. Hefinally did accept the position as shipping foreman. He had neverpursued the offers far enough to learn about the salary and he wasamazed how much better they paid the salaried people than he had beenearning. I believe he said that they almost doubled his pay.
When he saw that children and grandchildren were invited to the companypicnics he asked if he could bring a nephew and family since he had nochildren. As a result our family joined Uncle John and Aunt Nell at acouple of their company picnics.
Their home in Holland was always the most comfortable, draft free home Ihave ever been in. With their baseboard hot water heating and their airconditioning it was always just right. One summer they came to spend aweekend in Toledo and we had no air conditioning. They did not complain,but neither did they reject an offer to take a ride in our airconditioned car. I don't know how many miles we put on that night but wedidn't want to stop. They came down a couple times a year for a whileand one time we took them to a Libbey Glass outlet store. We went ourseparate ways and found things that we wanted. When we got home and werewashing our drinking glasses Uncle John said, " I think we bought somejust like those." We discovered that we hadpurchased identical sets.
Uncle John was not only loved by his family, he was also a favorite of somany. Everyone knew Uncle John at the retirement center and all alwaysmarveled how tender and loving he was to Aunt Nell during her last yearsat the retirement center and at the nursing home. He went everyday tovisit her and later on every day to feed her as she didn't eat well whenshe was left alone.

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