1899–1979

Introduction

Born: May 17, 1899, Holl­and, Mi­chi­gan.

Died: Oc­to­ber 15, 1979, Wy­om­ing, Mi­chi­gan.

Buried: Winchester Ce­me­te­ry, By­ron Cen­ter, Mi­chi­gan.

illustration

Biography

Dewey was the son of Douwe Jans West­ra and Jantje Min­ne­ma, and hus­band of Nell­ie Koetje.

He at­tend­ed Cal­vin Col­lege, Grand Ra­pids, Mi­chi­gan, and Wayne State Uni­ver­si­ty, De­troit, Mi­chi­gan.

He served as a prin­ci­pal of Chris­tian schools in By­ron Cen­ter and De­troit in the 1920s and 1930s.

In the 1940s he held va­ri­ous po­si­tions, in­clud­ing that of a die­sel in­struct­or at Ford Motor Com­pa­ny.

He re­turned to edu­ca­tion in 1947, as a prin­ci­pal in Sioux Cen­ter, Io­wa; Ran­dolph, Wis­con­sin; and Walk­er, Mi­chi­gan.

Works

He was known as a po­et, not on­ly in Eng­lish, but al­so in Dutch and Fri­sian. In ad­di­tion, he ver­si­fied all of the Psalms, the Lord’s Pray­er, and the songs of Ma­ry, Ze­cha­ri­ah and Si­me­on.

Sources

Lyrics

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