Donald DeKraker ’40
Donald DeKraker, 100, late of Orland Park, IL, formerly of Saugatuck and Holland, MI.
Beloved husband of the late Lorraine (nee Hoelle); devoted father of Linda (Jack) Connors, Robert (Eileen) DeKraker, and Laura (Morris) Threewitt; loving grandfather of Jay Connors, Holly (Gregg) Hall, Scott (Lynn), Andy (Cherise), and Jeff (Katie) Threewitt; cherished great-grandfather of Quinn, Lilah, Jackson, Everett, Grant, and Grace; fond brother-in-law of Don Hoelle, and many nieces and nephews.
He served as a First Lt. of the Air Force in WWII as a navigator of a B-24 Bomber. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart; a 1940 graduate of Hope College in Holland, MI, prior to enlisting in the Air Force; pastcommander of the Bruner Frehse American Legion Post #137 in Saugatuck, MI, and a member of the Johnson Phelps VFW Post 5220 of Oak Lawn, IL.