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309 W. Parkdale Avenue
Manistee, MI 49660
Phone: (231) 723-1117
Fax: (231) 723-1029
Lynette Houtman Lynette Houtman
In Memory of
Lynette "Lyn"
Houtman
1926 - 2018
Memorial Candle Tribute From
Oak Grove Funeral Home & Cremation Center
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Obituary for Lynette "Lyn" Houtman

Lynette "Lyn"  Houtman
Lynette 'Lyn' Houtman

Lynette "Lyn" Houtman, 92, was born April 29, 1926, in Chicago, Ill., the first child of Gladys (nee Carlsen) Oelz and Ralph Oelz and passed away on June 12, 2018, at her home in Manistee, Mich.

Lyn resided in Chicago, a city she would always love, until the age of 9 when her family moved to Benton Harbor, Mich., where her father managed Consumers Dairy Company. She graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 1944 and then attended Western Michigan University (WMU), where she was very active in student organizations and served as secretary of her 1949 graduating class. While attending WMU, she began taking graduate classes in Spanish.

After graduation, Lyn taught English and Spanish at Dowagiac and St. Joseph high schools. She also joined WMU French students in 1950 on a trip to France, where students lived with French families, in Fougeres (Kalamazoo's exchange city), Paris, and Lyon, and on the Riviera. She toured Italy and Barcelona. With the new realization that she loved to travel, the very next summer, she flew to Mexico City, living with a Mexican family, the Valdes, in Lomas de Chapultepec, as she studied Spanish at the National University.

Lyn continued her studies, receiving her master's degree in Spanish from the University of Michigan and securing a position teaching Spanish full time at Grosse Pointe High School. It was there in the teachers' lobby that she met a new math teacher, Loren Henry Houtman, of Grand Rapids, and a romance bloomed.

They married Dec. 22, 1956, at the Saron Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, followed by a brief honeymoon in Chicago. In subsequent summers the young couple camped along Lake Michigan, first in a borrowed tent, and later in a tent-trailer. One of their favorite campgrounds was one they discovered just south of Manistee.

Once settled in Detroit, Lyn became a stay-at-home mother and welcomed her three children, Dirck Jeffrey Houtman, of Rock Island, Ill., followed by Gordon Houtman, of Alexandria, Va., and finally Kirsten Houtman, of Madison, Wis., to the world. During this time, she also did private tutoring in Spanish, French and English. When Loren received his doctorate from Michigan State University, the family moved to Greenville, Tenn., and then Berea, Ohio, before settling in Coal Valley, Ill., where Loren worked with Western Illinois University and the Quad Cities Graduate Center.

Always interested in public affairs and good government, Lyn volunteered with many organizations and became active in political causes. Many long lasting friendships were also forged through her membership in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Davenport, Iowa, where she was a board member. She served as the president of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters and as vice president of the YWCA, and she was active in Common Cause and Welcome Wagon. She was a feminist and an advocate for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Lyn obtained a position at the Daily Dispatch Newspaper doing copyediting and also worked as a substitute teacher in local school districts.

All told, Lyn lived for 27 years in the Quad Cities. She loved playing the piano, and instrument she had studied since age 9. She enjoyed playing bridge with friends, gardening, bird watching, doing crossword puzzles, traveling and camping. She was active in the Democratic Party of Illinois. She enjoyed taking walks along the Mississippi River.

Lyn and Loren both instilled in their three children a love of nature, and summers often included week-long camping in the Manistee National Forest as well as other longer camping trips to The Badlands, Yosemite, Florida, and the Grand Tetons and frequent visits to grandparents' homes in Michigan. With her husband, Lyn took trips to Portugal, Spain, Mexico and Colombia. With the children grown, Lyn could dedicate more time to camping and returned again and again to Wisconsin's Devil's Lake State Park, visiting the area both to camp and seek out favorite cheeses; at one time she and Loren contemplated opening a cheese shop. With their daughter teaching English in Japan, Lyn orchestrated a three-week long whirlwind trip there.

In 1998 Lyn and Loren moved to Manistee, not far from their favorite campground. Their new home afforded them daily views of Lake Michigan and the Manistee River harbor, lighthouse and Coast Guard station. Lyn loved to see the large ships that would make their slow way up and back on the Manistee River. She warmly welcomed friends and relatives who often visited, and was unmatched in hospitality, cooking meals and serving up delicious baked goods.

She and Loren invited guests out to favorite restaurants such as The Blue Slipper Bistro or the Glenwood (both in Onekama) and to The House of Flavors in Manistee, where dinner (and sometimes breakfast) included ice cream. Lyn loved jazz and was the co-founder of the Manistee ShoreLine ShowCase Jazz Series that began in 2002. She spent many years active on the committee and continued to attend and bring friends and relatives to the concerts every year. Lyn enjoyed going to the Manistee Health Connection to work out. When Lyn could find time, she liked sitting down with a bowl of popcorn to watch a movie and enthusiastically supported the Ramsdell Theatre and the renovation of the Vogue Theatre in downtown Manistee, as well as the Manistee Civic Players and the county historical society.

After enduring the heartbreak of losing her husband Loren to dementia April 11, 2017, Lyn continued to live independently, and friends and family continued to visit. Throughout her life, she loved nothing more than writing and receiving letters, and her days were brightened most by a mailbox full of correspondence. Lyn was extremely thankful for the help of her two Munson Private Duty aides, Linda Allen and Kathy Griswold, who between the two of them, spent time with her nearly every day and became friends as well as companions; neighbors Sara and Bob Zielesch; Judy and Phil Asiala; Marcy Edel of Meals on Wheels; friends Lorelei Najdowski and Craig and Pam Schindlbeck; Dr. Charles VandenBerg and his staff at Munson Healthcare; visiting nurse, Mary Beth; Tim Scully, who co-founded the Manistee ShoreLine ShowCase with Lyn, and would bring her black walnut ice cream; Tom Amor; and Lynn Miller of Miller's Farm Market, who would bring her snickerdoodles. All of these people and many more made it possible for Lyn to continue living in her home until the end and to each of them, her family has a deep gratitude.

Lyn was preceded in death by her parents; her cherished brother, Ralph Oelz; her nephew, John Nichols; and her beloved husband, Loren Henry Houtman; as well as a bevy of pitbull terriers, including Mugi-cha, Ban-cha, Ume-cha, and Genmai-cha.

Her survivors include her children, Dirck Jeff; Gordon (with wife, Oryza and daughter, Marilyn), Kirsten (and her companion, David Arnn as well as one furry pitbull terrier, Kumo-cha), Gordon's former spouse, Margaret Dana Mayo Houtman (of Lynchburg, Va.), and Kirsten's former spouse, Kazuya Watanabe (of Madison, Wis.).

On her side of the family, she is survived by Carole (Robert) Nichols, of Naples, Fla., Erling Oelz, of Missoula, Mont., Susan Oelz of Tequesta, Fla., David (Nancy) Oelz, of Littleton, Colo., Michael (Lynda) Oelz, of Matthews, N.C., and Lucia Scully Oelz (the spouse of Lyn's brother Ralph who preceded Lyn in death), of Walloon Lake, Mich., as well as many nieces and nephews.

On Loren's side of the family, she is survived by Loren's cousins, Marie (Philip) Huizenga, of Ada, Mich., Betty (Dr. Philip Kamps), of Gallup, N.M., Art Brown (Caroline), of Columbus, N.C., Russ Brown, Jackie Kraai, of Naples, Fla., Susan (Dr. Eugene) Corbett, of Palmyra, Va., George (Lorry) Houtman, of San Antonio, Texas; and many nieces and nephews.

Lyn had lost many dear friends over the years, but she is also survived by long-time friends, Norm and Marge Tubbs, of Grand Rapids, Mich., Janet Walker, of Kent, Ohio, and Theda Connell, of Northport, Mich.

Cremation has taken place. Lyn's memorial site is at lynette-oelz-houtman.forevermissed.com. There will be no memorial service.

Memorials may be made to Manistee Shore Line Show Case; the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Quad-Cities in Davenport, Iowa; the Ramsdell or Vogue Theatre, both in Manistee; and Meals on Wheels of Northwest Michigan.

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