Carolynn Ruth Huizinga, age 89, went to be with her Lord on Monday December 29, 2025.

Carol was a Christian who lived her faith in deeds. Her life was marked by unassuming and reliable love and service to those the Lord put into her life.

Her devotion to her family was boundless. She never tired of imparting self-giving love to Marvin, her husband of 69 years, her sons Todd and David, her daughter-in-law Victoria, and her grandchildren Philip and his wife Miaya, Nicholas and Sarah. Carol's faithfulness to everyone in her family was selfless. It persevered until the moment she stepped into eternity. We are thankful beyond words. Our wife, mother and grandmother earned the immeasurable gratitude of each one of us.

Carol was born in Grand Rapids on August 5, 1936. She was preceded in death by her parents, Herman and Jessie Teisman, her sister and brother-in law, Ellen and Ed Potter, and her brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Alice Teisman. Her fidelity to them was also exemplary. She cared for her father for many years after her mother's death, for her sister Ellen after she was widowed, and for her brother Bill and his family as well, especially after the loss of her nephews Tom and Dan.

Carol also had many long and enduring friendships, especially from high school and her early professional years. She and her husband Marvin spent many good times with their friends, at home playing cards, enjoying Lake Michigan, or on trips up north or out of state.

Quiet persistence and a desire to serve also characterized her professional and church life. A graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Carol went back to school in her mid-thirties, receiving a B.A. in Education and English at Grand Valley State University. She then worked as a substitute teacher in the Grand Rapids Public Schools for several decades. She was a member of Boston Square Christian Reformed Church for sixty years, serving several terms as a deacon and making Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for those in need in the neighborhood.

Funeral services will be held Thursday January 8 at 11:00 am at the Zaagman Memorial Chapel, 2800 Burton St. S.E., with visitation one hour prior to the service from 10 to 11 am. There will also be visitation the day before, Wednesday January 7 from 6 to 8 pm.

Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."