Glenn Van Haitsma ’49
One of Glenn’s favorite images was the historic 1972 Apollo 17 photo of Earth, the blue planet suspended in space. A believer in the oneness of creation, Glenn was a humanist, scholar, poet, professor, parishioner, civil rights activist, world traveler, gardener, devoted son, brother, spouse, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
Born and raised on a Vriesland, Michigan dairy farm, Glenn was the eldest of 4 children born to Martha and Clarence Van Haitsma. One of 6 classmates who went through all 9 years in the 2-room Vriesland school house, Glenn worked hard on the family farm while participating broadly in school and community life, from theatre to journalism to catechism and student council. He graduated co-salutatorian of Zeeland High School in 1945, continued his studies at Hope College, then earned a Ph.D. in English literature from Syracuse University. Mid-graduate studies, Glenn was drafted into the US Army, and later placed in a State Department refugee program in Germany. Just prior to being stationed abroad, Glenn met a captivating woman named Ruth Romaine who was, herself, just leaving for an assignment as hospital dietician in Assiut, Egypt through a Presbyterian mission program. Glenn and Ruth courted for 3 years, mostly through prolific letter-writing. When Ruth completed her term, they married in Frutigen, Switzerland, began married life in Hamburg, Germany, then returned to Syracuse, where they started their family. In 1958, Glenn accepted a position in the English Department at Carroll College (now University) in Waukesha, WI, where he would remain for his teaching career. Glenn became a highly respected member of the faculty, serving as the first Faculty President, pioneering a core curriculum of interdisciplinary studies, and launching the popular NCEP (New Cultural Experience Program) inter-term courses that have been formative for many Carroll students.
Glenn and Ruth were active in their Waukesha community. Founding members in 1962 of the Waukesha Council on Human Relations (now the Equal Opportunity Commission), they organized a city-wide fair housing campaign and helped establish groups that continue to serve Waukesha today, including La Casa de Esperanza, Hebron House and Plowshare. In his teaching, Glenn introduced the first Black, Chicano, Native American and Third World Literature courses at Carroll, and he led students in immersive cross-cultural learning experiences to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, Rust College in Mississippi, and the Ecumenical Institute in Chicago. Glenn was active in several regional academic groups that fostered incorporating ethnic studies and social justice into teaching, and he and Ruth were involved in the Society for Values in Higher Education for many years.
Glenn’s conscientious teaching style meant many late-night hours preparing for class and reading hand-written student papers, but in the summers, he and Ruth loaded up their 4 children and tent-camped across the country, spending time helping Glenn’s father on the family farm in Michigan and time at Ruth’s parents’ cottage in New Hampshire. These were wonderful summers for the children, and Glenn was revitalized through his love of hiking and exploration with his family.
Glenn remained fit for his age, and Ruth would marvel that he could go straight from handing in his grades to pitching sheaves of wheat all day during threshing on the farm. He team-taught several Wilderness Studies courses that included canoeing in the Boundary Waters, and he portaged canoes as handily as students a third his age. Glenn particularly loved mountain-climbing, and at age 71, he was the eldest of an inter-generational group of Carroll students and faculty who trekked the mountains of Nepal.
Glenn could make literature come to life. He read poems to his young children at bedtime and then began a tradition of reading aloud to the family at dinnertime. His children remember listening spellbound to the Tolkien series, excited for each night’s new chapter.
Glenn and Ruth were core members of the First Presbyterian Church of Waukesha, with Glenn serving multiple stints as Sunday School teacher, Adult education leader, and Elder, among other roles. Active members of the United Nations Association, Glenn and Ruth were always interested in expanding community diversity. They shared their home with international students and sponsored immigrants from Vietnam, Nicaragua, Cuba, Ethiopia, Korea and Ghana. During Glenn’s final teaching years, he and Ruth taught for a year in Japan and a year in China through a Carroll exchange program. They were eager, curious, skilled, and frugal travelers, making the most of every opportunity.
After Glenn’s retirement, he and Ruth continued to travel through Global Exchange and Elderhostel (now Road Scholar) programs in the US and abroad, and Glenn taught several Elderhostel courses. They crisscrossed the US, van-camping into their 80’s, visiting national parks, friends and family. By their example, they lived their core belief that greater cultural and environmental understanding leads to better human relations.
In 2011, Ruth and Glenn moved to Freedom Village in Holland, Michigan, just a few miles from Glenn’s birthplace, where they remained as active as possible in church and community activities. After Ruth died at age 90 in 2015, Glenn continued to appreciate the supportive community at Freedom Village. In 2020, Glenn contracted COVID, which accelerated cognitive decline, but he retained his inner gentleness. His most common expression was “thank you.” Glenn’s family is likewise grateful to the kind staff at Freedom Village, Anchor In-Home Care and Hospice for all the good care they gave Glenn through his final years.
Glenn is survived by many beloved friends and family, including Hua and Van Truong and their children and partners, Trang Dinh (Hao Dinh), Linh Chen (Tom Chen), Trinh Chang (Albert Chang), Hai Truong (Regina Truong) and Tim Truong; his siblings, Dale (Charlotte) Van Haitsma, Terry (Judy Bruinsma) Van Haitsma and Carol DeKorte; his four children and their partners, Susan Van Haitsma (Jeff Webster), Martha Van Haitsma (Chip Bamberger), Sara Wagner (Dean Wagner) and Daniel Van Haitsma (Maryanne Van Haitsma); grandchildren and their partners, Josh Wagner (Kate Wagner), Aaron Bamberger (Rachel Agner), Nathan Bamberger (Carolyn Raithel), Emily Van Haitsma and Abigail Van Haitsma; and great-grandchildren, Austin, Allie and Anna Dinh, Ian and Khai Chang, Eian and Ruth Chen, Sara and Andrew Truong, Owen and Elinor Wagner and Arthur Andrew Bamberger. Life on Earth continues to bloom and grow.
In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to Plowshare at 219 W. Main St., Waukesha WI 53186 – https://www.plowshareftm.org/ or First Presbyterian Church of Holland MI at 659 State St., Holland MI 49423 – https://www.fpcholland.org/.