Lester Brouwer

, age 93, joined his wife Eva in the presence of the Lord, on Tuesday, March 6. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, March 10, at Bunde Christian Reformed Church in rural Clara City. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Friday, March 9, at the church. Memorials are preferred to World Renew(worldrenew.net/) or Resonate Global Mission (resonateglobalmission.org). Arrangements are with Tri-County Funeral Home in Prinsburg. Lester was a lifelong, avid participant in the Ostfries-settled territory of Rheiderland Township, in eastern Chippewa County. The second son of a second son, he was born just after midnight, on December 26, 1924, reflecting sometimes that he did not want to confuse his birthday with that of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His grandfather homesteaded the second farm in the new territory, recently opened by Chicago development firm Prins & Koch, who bequeathed family names to "Prinsburg" and "Clara City." But the Brouwer settlers, along with the Ammermans and others, brought their Ostfries German identity to the community, and established Bunde Christian Reformed Church. In this church Lester was baptized, made Public Profession of his faith, worshiped with his Prinsburg bride Eva Jane Hoogeveen, served as a Deacon, an Elder, a Catechism and Sunday School teacher, and the Superintendent of the Sunday School. Now, culminating the lifetime member journey, he will be buried in a parcel of the church's cemetery that was once a part of the fields he tilled. Lester grew up on a farm, and farmed well all his life, keenly interested in many facets of agricultural development. Yet his horizons and interests were much wider and broader. He trained, for a time, at Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis, learning diesel mechanics, and was truly a "fixer-of-things" in many dimensions beyond engines. Army duty took him to Germany, at the end of the Second World War, and was followed by decades of farming, both for others and later on his own lands, until his retirement in 1990. Lester and Eva next began a new career of volunteer ministry with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (now World Renew), assisting in disaster relief in many parts of North America. They paired this with world travels, especially marking the progress of the mission of Jesus around the globe. Lester spent the final decades of his life sharing wonderful family ties and times with Eva, and continuing as a vital participant in church and farming and community life. Lester's lifelong love was Eva, who sparked their dating life by asking him to join her on a county fair ride, and sitting next to him in the car on the way home. Army commitments separated the two for a time, during which Lester was constantly asked about the beautiful young woman whose picture he carried. Married in 1947, Lester and Eva wished for many children to share their love, but medical challenges made it almost miraculous when six children were finally born over a fifteen-year period. Lester's practical know-how and faith have been a part of the lives of Jean (Stan Starkenburg), Wayne (Brenda), Shirley (Bill Kuurstra), Evie (Jeff Thomson), Ardie (Nathan Elgersma) and Lyle (Beth), who survive him, and delight in carrying on his marvelous legacy. They, in turn, are continuing to pass these things along to Lester's many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Lester is also survived by sisters Mae Ryks, Ruth Grussing, and Lois (Lambert) Kleene, and brother Stan (Harriet). He was predeceased by his older brother Alvin.  

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