Local News - April 2003

Volunteer Wieringa dead at 75

By JACOB RUDOLPH, LTN Staff Writer

See obituary on April 7, 2003

DENVER — Louis Burton Wieringa, a dynamic volunteer and cherished friend of the east Lincoln community, died Saturday at his home in Denver.  He was 75.

Wieringa, known affectionately as Lou, is remembered by many as a selfless and devoted promoter of community kindness.

“Lou exuded Christianity; he was a wonderful, wonderful person,” said friend and fellow volunteer Roberta Sell. “When he took on a project, he went into it with both feet and always, you knew, his first thought was for the people he was helping.”

Born in Muskegon, Mich., Wieringa was a retired truck and fleet manager with General Motors.

After moving to east Lincoln about 10 years ago, Wieringa jumped into many community projects, such as helping charter the Denver/Lake Norman Rotary Club.

He was a member of Unity Presbyterian Church, where he served as choir member and past deacon and elder.

In perhaps his most cherished activity, Wieringa was a volunteer with East Lincoln Christian Ministries.  There he served as past vice-president and president and, most recently, head of the advisory committee.

Along with two other volunteers, Wieringa was instrumental in founding ELCM’s Home Meals Ministry, delivering meals to needy homes in the community.

Home Meals coordinator Janeen Dishman recalled a time when Wieringa ventured beyond his role as then chairman of the program.

When a Home Meals recipient with no family or friends was not home one day, Wieringa called all local hospitals and finally found the man on his death bed, Dishman said.

Struck by Wieringa’s kindness, the man signed power of attorney to him, she continued. Wieringa stayed with him at the hospital, helped pay the man’s bills and made funeral arrangements when he died.

“That’s the kind of man he was,” Dishman said of Wieringa. “He picked up the pieces that needed to be picked up.”

Just under six-feet tall, with white hair and a round face –– which would redden when he got excited –– Wieringa was a community grandfather figure, Dishman said.

“He was the kind of person who, as soon as you walk in the door, you wanted to give him a hug,” she said.

He was a man who loved to work, loved to eat and loved his wife, Joyce.

Joyce once confided to Sell that, before moving from Michigan, the most important things in her husband’s life were: “General Motors, food and his wife.”  After moving: “East Lincoln Christian Ministries, food and his wife.”

Wieringa is survived by his wife, two sons, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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Staff Writer Jacob Rudolph can be reached at 704-735-3031 or jacobrudolph@ltnews.com.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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