Lois Tysse ’38 Strom

Lois Tysse ’38 Strom, daughter of the late Rev. Gerrit Tysse (1894) and Eva Van Oostenbrugge, passed away on Thursday, July 14, 2016 in Holland at 99 years of age. The Tysse’s were longtime residents of Holland, residing on East 13th Street across from Western Theological Seminary from about 1918 into the 1960s. The Tysse and Van Oostenbrugge families had emigrated from Zaandam and Rhenen in the Netherlands and settled in Roseland and South Holland, Illinois, respectively. The Gerrit Tysse family later settled in Holland when Gerrit’s pastoral duties brought him here.

Lois, the 10th of 11 children, graduated from Hope College and thereafter moved to Fenton where she taught in the Fenton public Schools for 31 years. She received her M.A. degree from the University of Michigan. She was an active member of the Fenton Presbyterian Church and later Third Reformed Church. She sang in the choir, served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church, taught Sunday school and was superintendent of the musical arts. She also was an avid bird watcher and participated in more athletic activities such as swimming and hiking.

Lois was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur F. Strom of Fenton; her daughter, Kristin; five sisters, Anna Mae Roth, Agnes Tysse ‘28, Dr. Eva Tysse ’29 McGilvray, Cornelia Tysse ’36 Hartough, and Marian Tysse ’42 Williams; and five brothers, Henry Tysse, Gerrit Tysse, Clarence Tysse ‘34, James Tysse ‘34, and Kenneth Tysse ‘36.  She is survived by her daughters, Sigrid Strom of Seattle and Marilyn Strom of Hinsdale, N.H.; her grand-daughters, Kelsie Leonard and Hillary Leonard of Boston; and many nieces and nephews.

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