Joan (Hoogterp) Loveland, 85, passed away on Tuesday, February 27, at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, under Hospice care and in the presence of her three daughters and other family members.

Joan was born in Wyoming Park, Michigan, the first of 13 children born to Dorothy and Peter Hoogterp. In her high school years, she attended Marywood Academy in Grand Rapids, and The Madona House school in Combermere, Ontario, before graduating from Kent City High School as valedictorian in 1956.

She married Karl Loveland, Sr., the summer after graduation. The young couple lived and worked on farms across western and central Michigan, and had a son and three daughters together. Following a divorce, Joan lived in Grand Rapids, where she raised her children and worked for many years as an office manager at Grand Rapids Spring and Wire Company.

Ashley, Ruth 1/13/1940 – 2/3/2023

Ruth Ashley, of Grand Rapids, MI, and San Diego, CA, died February 3, 2023, at Provision Living Center in Grand Rapids. Her final days were passed in comfort and at peace, in the care of family members, Provision Living aides, and Gentiva Hospice. Ruth was 83 years old. She lived a full life as a mother, a sister, an author, a businesswoman and much more.

She was born at home in Wyoming, Mich., on Jan. 13, 1940, and christened Virginia Ruth Hoogterp; the second of 13 children born to Peter and Dorothy Hoogterp. The family later moved to Comstock Park, where she attended Holy Trinity elementary school, and then to northern Kent County, where she graduated in 1957 as valedictorian of Kent City High School.

She briefly considered following her mother into a nursing career, and worked at clerical positions in Grand Rapids before enrolling at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, where she earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology.

Teresa Rose “Terry” Foley, age 80, of Grand Rapids, died August 20 at Provision Living in Forest Hills. She was at peace, in the presence of family and under the care of Kindred Hospice at the end of a long illness.

Terry was born at home in Wyoming, Michigan on Aug. 30, 1941. She was the third of 13 children of Peter Hoogterp, a carpenter, and Dorothy Swem Hoogterp, a registered nurse. Her parents struggled financially — as they moved from the city to the country and back again — but passed along to Terry and her siblings a love of books and music, appreciation for the natural world, and a determination to support human rights for all people.

Thomas John “Tom” Hoogterp passed away on September 25, 2021, at his beloved home in Engadine.

Tom was born on January 5, 1947, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Dorothy and Pete Hoogterp, the 6th of 13 children. 

Read Tom’s full obituary here.

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Mary Catherine Hoogterp, 63, of San Diego, Cal., formerly of Grand Rapids, Mich., died Nov. 1 in San Diego. She leaves at home her husband, James Brewer, and two teen-age daughters, Marjorie RuiKe Brewer and Dorothea Fu-Yin Brewer.

Mary’s family will host a memorial Prayer Service at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Comstock Park, with Deacon Jerry Roersma officiating.

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Our colleague Mary C. Hoogterp, Ph.D. has died, on 1 November 2013, from complications associated with leukemia, which was diagnosed in March.  Mary served as an adjunct history instructor for over nineteen years, before being afflicted.

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mary graduated from Ottawa Hills High School, in 1968. After a few years, Mary moved across the country to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she went to work for the Veterans Administration.  Later she transferred to the VA office in Washington, DC, which allowed Mary to reside with her sister Ruth Ashley.  When Ruth subsequently relocated to San Diego to start her own company, Mary was able to shift her VA employment to San Diego.

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