Gerrit Heijnen

CANAL FULTON – Gerrit Heijnen, age 85, passed away on March 28, 2021.

Born on May 7, 1935 in Bussum, Holland in the Netherlands to the late Jan and Johanna (Eikenaar) Heijnen, he was a resident of Canal Fulton since 2017, previously of the Doylestown / Wadsworth area.  Gerrit utilized his knowledge of 5 languages while serving in submarine communications for the Dutch Navy before coming to the United States at age 23.  He earned an accounting degree at the University of Akron and worked in the field with various companies throughout his career.  An outdoorsman, he enjoyed fishing, boating and swimming and loved to be on the water.  Gerrit was a simple and gentle man while showing others how to get the most out of life by the way he lived it.  He will live in all of our hearts forever.

Preceded in death by his grandson, Dustin, and sister Alice Heijnen, he is survived by his wife of 42 years, Nola (Thomas) Heijnen; children from their blended families are: Doris (Randy) Kalstrom of Bath, OH, Wayne (Irene) Heijnen of Phoenix, AZ, Jodi (Mike) McKinley of Doylestown, OH, David Bragg of Asheville, NC, Johanna Costello of Hyannis Port, MA, Bill Bragg of Asheville, NC, Linda Lindley of Bloomington, IL, Ellie (Brian) Skidmore of Medina, OH, Jeff (Katrina) Bragg of Asheville, NC; 23 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren; 1 great great grandchild and brother, Justice (Aartje) Heijnen from the Netherlands.

A celebration of life service will be held at a later date.  Memorials in honor of Gerrit may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association for the benefit of wife Nola Heijnen at alz.org.  Online obituary and guest registry are available at www.zakmonbarrenfh.com

(Zak-Thacker & Monbarren, 330-658-2211)

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