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PASSING OF RON VAN WYK
It is with deep sadness that we have to report the loss of our dear friend and construction manager, Ron Van Wyk. Ron Van Wyk died Saturday afternoon succumbing to heart failure from
Amyloidosis
, a rare disease that is a consequence of abnormal protein (amyloid) deposits in body tissues and organs. Our loss is nonetheless both shocking and saddening after hearing the news this weekend.
He is survived by his loving wife Janice Van Wyk; sons, Jeffrey Scott Van Wyk and Travis Lynn Van Wyk; siblings: Doris Jean Van Donselaar, Dale Lee Van Wyk, Bryce Edwin Van Wyk, Marvin Dean Van Wyk and Glen Allen Van Wyk; and granddaughter, Mazie Lux Van Wyk.
Ron served as our Construction Manager from October 2014 until Saturday, March 4th.
The previous sentence hardly ranks as even a footnote. Ron served as a volunteer house leader for most of our 95 homes built by South Collin. He did this service work while tending to a lifelong career with the EPA, doing renovations on his own homes, attending the Reform Church of Plano and raising a family with his wife Jan. Their sons are Geoff and Travis. Dale Van Wyk, Ron's brother has also been a key volunteer for this affiliate since our founding. All during Ron's involvement, his family would sometimes accompany him back to the build site on Sundays! Ron patched up volunteer mistakes and organized the tool shed and supplies for the next week. He was a perfectionist - literally.
Fourteen Habitat homes have been constructed by area high school youth since 2005. Ron Van Wyk led all of those homes. "Extreme Build for Youth" began as a yearly build due to the advocacy of Gwen Walters and Beth Brown. Thousands of high school youth have been on our build site. The last nine years have been under the steady and strong leadership of Linda Saxton. Without Ron's leadership on the site - many of these young people would not been able to serve and many who did would have gone home with a ho-hum experience. Our Extreme Build for Youth was Ron's favorite build.
But Ron did so much more and impacted many more homes, families and volunteers. Those thoughts will be shared at a later time in remembrance of this tremendous servant to our ministry.
A Viewing for Ron will be held at Restland Funeral Home at 13005 Greenville Ave, Dallas, Texas on Thursday, March 9 from 7pm to 9pm.
A Memorial Service/Celebration of Life Service will be held at Arapaho United Methodist Church, 1400 Arapaho Rd, Richardson, Texas on Friday, March 10 at 11am.
Please be in prayer for Jan and her family during this difficult time.
Respectfully,
Habitat-SCC Staff and Board
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