John Dykstra

John Junior Dykstra, of Park Township, formerly of Columbia, Md., and Hingham, Wis., passed away on January 29, 2019, following a long illness.

A native of Hingham, John was stationed in Bremerhaven, Germany and Trabzon, Turkey with the United States Air Force before completing his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He then worked for nearly thirty years as a linguist, cryptologist, and analyst for the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., spending seven of those years in Garmisch and West Berlin, Germany.

Upon retiring in 1997, he moved to Holland with his family. He later worked at Vogelzang Hardware and at Hope College Van Wylen Library.

John loved travel by car, train, or boat and cooking the foods that he came to appreciate during his extensive travels. Projects bearing the mark of his gift for working with his hands include a sprawling model railroad. He was a longtime member of Third Reformed Church, where he served as a deacon; a fixture in the stands at Hope College basketball games, and a long-suffering fan of the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs.

Survivors include Linda (née LeFever), his wife of 48 years; a daughter, Amanda (Greg) Esposito, and grandson, Calvin, of Arlington, Mass.; two brothers, Ralph Dykstra of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., and Robert Dykstra of St. Paul, Minn.; one sister, Marge (John) TenDolle, two sisters-in-law, Minnie Dykstra and Lillian Dykstra, and two brothers- in-law, John Ten Dolle and Eugene Wassink, all of Hingham.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Anna (née Holstein); four brothers, Cornelius (Bernice), Henry (Elsie), Sidney, and Gerald; one sister, Sylvia Wassink; and four sisters-in-law, Bernice, Elsie, Beverly, and Lou Ann.