Norman Ray Duininck

The funeral service will be livestreamed at:  https://youtu.be/wTcQYe9ZGHU

Norman "Norm" R. Duininck, age 82, of Prinsburg, passed away peacefully on January 9, at Bethesda Grand in Willmar at the age of 82, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few years earlier. 

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 17, at Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg.  Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. on Monday, January 16, at Unity Christian Reformed Church and will continue for one hour prior to the service.  Interment will be at a later date in the Holland Township Cemetery.  Arrangements are entrusted to the Tri-County Funeral Home.  www.tricountyfuneral.com  

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to honor Norm's life are preferred to: 

Global Health Ministries – Tanzania Pediatric-NICU Fund https://give.ghm.org/nicu

Central MN Christian School https://www.cmcschool.org/support/annual-campaign.cfm

The Fortress https://thefortresswillmar.com/donate

Unity CRC – Missions Fund https://unitycrc.org/give/

Norman Ray Duininck was born on August 19, 1940, at Rice Hospital in Willmar, Minnesota to Cora (Strootman) and Henry Duininck. He grew up in Prinsburg and graduated from Central Minnesota Christian School, attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and completed his master’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He married his high school sweetheart, LaValda (Val) Bonnema on June 8, 1962, and he joined his father, brothers, and cousins as a partner in Duininck Companies. He was also a board member of PrinsBank for many years. They had five children and raised their family in Prinsburg.

A deeply spiritual thinker, Norm was involved in his church community early on and developed his love of God’s Word while leading the Bethel Bible Series. He also played a visionary role in the establishment of Community Christian School in Willmar in the fall of 1978. He was a charter member of Unity Christian Reformed Church which formed in 1984. Norm loved music and was the director for the Prinsburg Male Chorus and the mixed choral group, the Praise Singers.

Beyond his local community, Norm had a heart for missions and supported mission organizations around the world, specifically in Ecuador, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, and Tanzania. His home was always open to mission organization leaders from around the world.  One of his treasured legacies is the impact his missional heart had on his children and grandchildren. His commitment to missions spurred them on to serve others and spread the gospel through short-term and long-term missions with his daughter Jodi dedicating her life to medical missions, living in many places throughout the world. He was an extremely generous person, always willing to lend a hand or offer financial support in impactful ways.

Some of Norm’s favorite pastimes were spending summers swimming and sailing (he had the first Hobie Cat sailboat on Green Lake); fishing and hunting in Alaska and Canada; traveling with Val, especially Hawaii; golfing with friends; solving crossword puzzles; playing solitaire; and listening to jazz music. He had endless optimism for the Gophers and Vikings, confident that this was the year they were headed to the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl. He enjoyed watching sports of any kind on TV and switched between games at a dizzying rate.

He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Val of Prinsburg; two daughters, Pam (and Brad) Van Eps of Vadnais Heights, and Jodi (and Steve) Swanson of Arusha, Tanzania; three sons, Chris (and Lara) Duininck of Willmar, Jeremy (and Shana) Duininck of Prinsburg, and Ben (and Erin) Duininck of Excelsior; seventeen grandchildren; seven great grandchildren with three more on the way; one sister, Shirley (and Carl) Marcus of Willmar, and one brother, Curt (and Eunice) Duininck of Argyle, TX., besides other relatives and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother and sister-in-law, Willis and Joan Duininck.

Blessed be the memory of Norman Ray Duininck.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Norman Ray Duininck, please visit our floral store.