February 17, 1936 - August 7, 2018

“In my Father’s house are many mansions… and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” John 14:2-3

Verlyn Westra, my father, lived a remarkable life of eighty-two years. Dad was a man who believed deeply in the value of home, and in the love of the people and places that make up a home. To truly appreciate who Dad was, you need only look at four very special places throughout his life that he proudly called home.

Inwood, Iowa was the place Dad first called home. Dad was born during a snowstorm just a few miles down the road at a farmhouse in Larchwood, Iowa. He loved to tell us the story of how his father, Cornelius, took the family horse out in the storm so that the doctor could get through the snow drifts to assist with the delivery. When Cornelius died just a few years later, Ethel Westra was left to raise her young family in the nearby town of Inwood. Dad and his four siblings – Ordell, Dee, Twyla and Betty – grew to adulthood without their father. They didn’t get to experience the joy that my siblings and I had of seeing our father live to a ripe old age. But I am convinced that it was in that fatherless home in Inwood that Verlyn learned how to be a father. Dad and his siblings learned to look out for each other, and to care for their mother, and to sacrifice for their family, and to find joy in the many friendships they had in that little town. They were poor financially, but rich beyond measure in the love and friendships they had at their home in Inwood. Dad never lost sight of that. It’s no wonder he loved going back to Inwood as an adult. As kids and well into our adult lives, we got used to the almost annual summer pilgrimage to Inwood for their Fourth of July celebration. And without having to say so – Dad was often a man of few words – I think Dad wanted us to learn just a little bit of what he learned about friendship and family in that very special place.

Burlington, Iowa was the place where Dad started his own family. Verlyn had fallen in love and married Sheila Ann Klotz – a nursing student from the little town of Howard, South Dakota – while he was a student at the University of South Dakota. Dad told us that his Lutheran pastor in Inwood had given him a gentle admonition about marrying that Catholic girl. But as we would all come to learn about Dad, once he made up his mind there was little use trying to talk him out of it. So he married Sheila, and after graduating college took her across Iowa to settle in the bustling little town of Burlington, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Dad started his career as an accountant at Murray Iron Works, and Mom worked at the hospital as a nurse. In Burlington they brought seven children into the world, and they formed deep friendships that would endure for the rest of their lives. Dad worked hard to make a home for his young family. Everyone who knows Dad knows how frugal he was, and in making a home for his family, Dad embraced a lifelong love of making things. He made toys, he made furniture – most notably, he made a coffee table out of lumber salvaged from a local casket company that we affectionately called the “coffin table.” Dad made a custom keyhole-shaped kitchen table for our home that could accommodate the entire family. Dad made a toy rocking horse for me, which he later re-made into a hobby horse for my brother Nicholas, which we have kept and cherished to this day. Dad was even a match-maker, introducing his co-worker Bob to Mom’s co-worker Diane – a match that has enriched our families with much love and laughter to this day. We all have things that Dad made for us. But the most important thing Dad made for us was a loving home in that very special place.

Lincoln, Nebraska was the place where Dad became a good steward of the many gifts God had given him. In Lincoln, Dad and Mom welcomed another child into the world, showing us all the extravagant goodness of God in providing everything we need. In Lincoln, Dad took the leap of faith to become a partner in the Nebraska Boiler Company. I remember Mom describing how her hands were shaking as she co-signed the bank’s loan documents. But she trusted Dad, and Dad knew that with hard work and the support of his partners and co-workers, he could make a successful business. And he did. But Dad knew that whatever success he enjoyed ultimately was a gift from God, and so he would spend the rest of his life sharing his blessings with others. He and Mom made many good friends in Lincoln, and they welcomed thirteen beautiful grandchildren into their home in Lincoln. Dad became an ardent fan of the Huskers here in Lincoln. He embraced the Catholic faith here in Lincoln. He educated his children here in Lincoln. And it was here in Lincoln where – six years ago – Dad said good-bye to his beloved wife Sheila and laid her to rest. Dad left a lasting imprint on many people while in Lincoln, but truly the people Dad knew and loved while in Lincoln made a lasting imprint on him.

Padre Island, Texas is a place where time both flies by and seems to stand still. Mom and Dad decided thirty years ago that our family needed a little place by the sea that could be our home-away-from-home – a place to rest, and relax, and recharge. Friends and family were welcomed over the years to Padre Island to get away from our busy lives and just enjoy the beauty of nature and the beauty of living in the moment. Each sunrise on Padre Island reminded us to cherish the day… we learned that storms would pass, that the blazing Texas heat would give way to the cool ocean breeze, that the shifting sands beneath our feet were exactly where the ocean tides had wanted them to be. Mom and Dad had a couple photographs of Padre Island in their bedroom in Lincoln, and during Dad’s final days I can’t help but think that those memories of Padre Island assured him that his own storms would soon pass… and that he would once again be in a special place of brightness, and calm, and beauty, and peace.

Dad’s faith was a deep as the ocean, and as much as he cherished those places he called home, he knew that none of them was meant to be his forever home. Dad knew that God had destined him for a better place… a place where he would be forever young, forever healthy, forever united with those he loves. Tomorrow we will take Dad to his final resting place next to Mom. But our faith assures us that death is not the end, and that our true final resting place is in our heavenly Father’s house… where we will see each other again. Until then, let’s pray for each other, and cherish our memories of each other, and thank God every day for the rich blessings of the people and places that we call home.

ECW 8/12/2018

Verlyn L. Westra obituary notice available here.