The Reverend Frank DeRoos
By Jan Drolen
The Reverend Frank DeRoos, Bethany's third pastor, was born on August 20, 1890, in Franeke, the Netherlands. His family emigrated to the United States in 1894, settling in Springfield, South Dakota. The family lived at first in a sod home along the Missouri River. After being washed out twice from flooding, they moved to higher ground on the bluffs.
Young Frank DeRoos, the second of seven children, received formal schooling only through the second grade. He was later tutored and mentored by the Reverend Henry Schipper, who came to serve the Immanuel Reformed Church of Springfield in 1905. The Reverend Schipper apparently encouraged Frank to move to Holland, Michigan and earn his high-school diploma at the Hope College Preparatory School. Frank DeRoos enrolled in 1908 and finished his high school studies in 1912. He then entered Hope College in the fall and graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1916. From 1916-1919 he studied at Western Theological Seminary, earning his Master's of Divinity degree. But Frank DeRoos was still not finished with his education, doing post-graduate studies at Princeton Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey from 1919 to 1920. His brother-in-law once said that Frank had "an insatiable thirst for knowledge."
In June of 1920, the Reverend DeRoos married Ruth Veldhuis, of Overisel, Michigan, whom he had met at Hope College. She had graduated from Hope in 1917, earning a teaching degree. He also accepted a call to become Bethany's third pastor, and was installed on July, 8, 1920, a month shy of his thirtieth birthday.
In the summer of 1921, the Reverend DeRoos traveled to South Dakota to visit his family, whom he had not seen in quite some time, having been unable to travel due to his heavy work and study schedule before becoming a pastor. While there, he was stricken with appendicitis and was operated on in Mitchell, South Dakota. He appeared to be doing well when he was afflicted apparently with a blood clot, and he died on August 10, 1921, not quite 31 years old. His funeral and burial were held on August 12 in South Dakota. His wife Ruth, expecting their first child, was visiting her family in Overisel, and was unable to attend the service.
Bethany conducted a memorial service for "our beloved pastor" on August 16. The Kalamazoo Gazette called the service "impressive" and said that it was "largely attended." At the service, a letter was read from South Dakota, reporting that an hour before he died, the Reverend DeRoos said to "tell everybody good bye. I am prepared to go." One of the two eulogies delivered at the memorial states that the Reverend DeRoos was "a congenial character. He made a host of friends and he himself was a staunch true friend. To know him was to love him." Of many thoughtful comments made in the eulogy the following paragraphs touch us yet today:
"Perhaps God is speaking through him to other young men to take up the task. We do not know why these things are, for we cannot know the inscrutable will of God. Perhaps God, through his death is speaking to this church, to the young manhood and womanhood of this congregation, and of this community perhaps God is asking some of us to take up the broken threads of the life that has gone before, so that we may lay upon the altar of service our lives to do honor to our Master and labor for Him...
"Our brother spent twelve years of his life in preparations for his life-work, and spent but twelve months in preaching the Gospel of salvation. But who will dare say that his work was in vain?...
"Had Reverend DeRoos won but one soul as a star in his crown, the efforts he put forth would have been worth while, in the sight of God, in the sight of Eternity. In his sight now."
Seven weeks after he husband's death, the Reverend DeRoos's wife Ruth gave birth to their daughter, Frances Ruth, on September 30, 1921. They continued to live in Overisel where Mrs. DeRoos taught school. Mrs. DeRoos attended Bethany's 50th anniversary celebration in 1955. She died in 1978 at the age of 84 and is buried next to her husband in South Dakota. Their daughter Fran, now Mrs. George Baron, lives in Zeeland, Michigan. She and her late husband George had three children, Jane, Ann, and Frank DeRoos Baron, who are all married and live in the Holland/Grand Rapids area with their families.
In looking for glimpses of what the Reverend DeRoos might have been like as a pastor and as a person, the following excerpt from an obituary is enlightening:
"Mr. DeRoos Commended himself to his instructors by his earnest study, and his consecration to the cause in the service of which he died. Particularly those who knew him in his seminary days will remember the spirituality of his talks...During those years he wrestled with the problem of personal faith and consecration, and God gave him a new faith and a new assurance, in which he so rejoiced that he voiced his joy many a time. He was to his professors a young man of promise. We rejoiced in the sure grip that was beginning to manifest itself in his preaching and looked for him to give a noble account of himself for the kingdom. He rejoiced in his work at Kalamazoo, and gave himself whole-heartedly to it."
The memorial proclamation written by Bethany's consistory also give fitting tribute to the life and service of the Reverend Frank DeRoos:
"We wish to bear testimony to his faithful labor while he was among us, both as Preacher and Pastor, and his very efficient working the Bible classes and Sunday School. Our prayer and desire is that the seeds which he has sown and the life which he has lived may have an abiding influence on the hearts and lives of our people."
© 2013 Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. All rights reserved.
Young Frank DeRoos, the second of seven children, received formal schooling only through the second grade. He was later tutored and mentored by the Reverend Henry Schipper, who came to serve the Immanuel Reformed Church of Springfield in 1905. The Reverend Schipper apparently encouraged Frank to move to Holland, Michigan and earn his high-school diploma at the Hope College Preparatory School. Frank DeRoos enrolled in 1908 and finished his high school studies in 1912. He then entered Hope College in the fall and graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1916. From 1916-1919 he studied at Western Theological Seminary, earning his Master's of Divinity degree. But Frank DeRoos was still not finished with his education, doing post-graduate studies at Princeton Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey from 1919 to 1920. His brother-in-law once said that Frank had "an insatiable thirst for knowledge."
In June of 1920, the Reverend DeRoos married Ruth Veldhuis, of Overisel, Michigan, whom he had met at Hope College. She had graduated from Hope in 1917, earning a teaching degree. He also accepted a call to become Bethany's third pastor, and was installed on July, 8, 1920, a month shy of his thirtieth birthday.
In the summer of 1921, the Reverend DeRoos traveled to South Dakota to visit his family, whom he had not seen in quite some time, having been unable to travel due to his heavy work and study schedule before becoming a pastor. While there, he was stricken with appendicitis and was operated on in Mitchell, South Dakota. He appeared to be doing well when he was afflicted apparently with a blood clot, and he died on August 10, 1921, not quite 31 years old. His funeral and burial were held on August 12 in South Dakota. His wife Ruth, expecting their first child, was visiting her family in Overisel, and was unable to attend the service.
Bethany conducted a memorial service for "our beloved pastor" on August 16. The Kalamazoo Gazette called the service "impressive" and said that it was "largely attended." At the service, a letter was read from South Dakota, reporting that an hour before he died, the Reverend DeRoos said to "tell everybody good bye. I am prepared to go." One of the two eulogies delivered at the memorial states that the Reverend DeRoos was "a congenial character. He made a host of friends and he himself was a staunch true friend. To know him was to love him." Of many thoughtful comments made in the eulogy the following paragraphs touch us yet today:
"Perhaps God is speaking through him to other young men to take up the task. We do not know why these things are, for we cannot know the inscrutable will of God. Perhaps God, through his death is speaking to this church, to the young manhood and womanhood of this congregation, and of this community perhaps God is asking some of us to take up the broken threads of the life that has gone before, so that we may lay upon the altar of service our lives to do honor to our Master and labor for Him...
"Our brother spent twelve years of his life in preparations for his life-work, and spent but twelve months in preaching the Gospel of salvation. But who will dare say that his work was in vain?...
"Had Reverend DeRoos won but one soul as a star in his crown, the efforts he put forth would have been worth while, in the sight of God, in the sight of Eternity. In his sight now."
Seven weeks after he husband's death, the Reverend DeRoos's wife Ruth gave birth to their daughter, Frances Ruth, on September 30, 1921. They continued to live in Overisel where Mrs. DeRoos taught school. Mrs. DeRoos attended Bethany's 50th anniversary celebration in 1955. She died in 1978 at the age of 84 and is buried next to her husband in South Dakota. Their daughter Fran, now Mrs. George Baron, lives in Zeeland, Michigan. She and her late husband George had three children, Jane, Ann, and Frank DeRoos Baron, who are all married and live in the Holland/Grand Rapids area with their families.
In looking for glimpses of what the Reverend DeRoos might have been like as a pastor and as a person, the following excerpt from an obituary is enlightening:
"Mr. DeRoos Commended himself to his instructors by his earnest study, and his consecration to the cause in the service of which he died. Particularly those who knew him in his seminary days will remember the spirituality of his talks...During those years he wrestled with the problem of personal faith and consecration, and God gave him a new faith and a new assurance, in which he so rejoiced that he voiced his joy many a time. He was to his professors a young man of promise. We rejoiced in the sure grip that was beginning to manifest itself in his preaching and looked for him to give a noble account of himself for the kingdom. He rejoiced in his work at Kalamazoo, and gave himself whole-heartedly to it."
The memorial proclamation written by Bethany's consistory also give fitting tribute to the life and service of the Reverend Frank DeRoos:
"We wish to bear testimony to his faithful labor while he was among us, both as Preacher and Pastor, and his very efficient working the Bible classes and Sunday School. Our prayer and desire is that the seeds which he has sown and the life which he has lived may have an abiding influence on the hearts and lives of our people."
© 2013 Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. All rights reserved.
