The Geurink Family History
Arent Jan Branch

Forward

Awhile ago I had been reading a passage of scripture in Joshua. We all know the story of Moses and the people of Israel crossing the Red Sea, but later when Joshua was in charge, the people had another river to cross. It was the Jordan River, which was overflowing it's banks. God again parted those waters so the children of a man named Jacob (Israel) could cross. They were then told to bring up twelve large stones from the river bed and lay them down at the place where they would lodge that night. Joshua then told them, "Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord'..." And so, those stones became a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.

In reading this I wondered, for my childen's sake, how I could pass along the story of how God has led our family...both in the present and also in the past. Thus I began collecting information on our Geurink family. The Geurink and Oonk families came here to America for religious freedom and additional opportunities for land. They left family and relatives in Holland to journey here to this country of freedom. They experienced extreme hardships and in some cases death, to provide a better life for the future generations. They relied heavily on their faith in God.

This testament was put together mainly for my children, but I am hoping you will enjoy it as well. I have tried my best to collect as much information as possible, and relay it in an accurate way. I apologize for any errors. They were not intentional, and I hope you will contact me with more accurate information. Also, I apologize for not having as much information on the Peter Holster family. Hopefully if we have another edition in th future, we will be able to add to their history. I pray no one will be offended by the inclusion or lack of inclusion within a particular family. I used what was available to me (i.e. wedding announcements from my grandmother's scrapbook, pictures and writings loaned to me by Leonard Meyer, and writings from Anne Geurink) and did the best with the time I allotted to myself to complete this project. I am including a few blank sheets of paper at the close of the Family Tree section. Use these to preserve your own newspaper clippings, pictures and writings.

Although I am beginning this history with the first generation coming to America, I was able to collect some additional ancestor names on both the Oonk and Geurink sides of the family. They will be included on pages separate from the main family tree. You will see each person is assigned a number in front of their name. The small number behind the name notes the generation you fall in. Each generation is listed together. Once your number is listed you will be able to follow that number through until you find your own personal data. In the computer program I used, it did not always allow me to add personal stories in a chronological way...hopefully this will not be too confusing to everyone. The stories of the spouse will precede those in the actual Geurink line. Because many of us also have ancestors in the Hettinga family, I've included the Hettinga history in the story line of Frances Hettinga-Holster-Geurink.

At the end of this booklet you will find a listing of addresses. Many of these were collected this past summer for the reunion., so hopefully most of them will be current.

Our family reunions began on New Years Eve, 1936, at the home of Henry and Ruth Nauta and have been held each year since., during the Christmas season. This past year we had a picnic-style family reunion on Fathers Day weekend and decided to hold our next reunion on the same weekend in the year 2002. Because many are having their own family reunions and due to the fact that there are many more of us now! we are hoping an every other year summer reunion will allow opportunity for as many to attend as possible. Again, if you notice any errors, or if changes occur in your immediate family, please contact me at:
Carrie S. Vergin
5611 Camp Phillips Rd.
Schofield, WI. 54476
e-mail: drvcsv@juno.com

Thank you again for all your help in putting this history together! I'm hoping you will enjoy reading it and passing this record down to your children.
Carrie