Below is the obituary published in the Sacramento Bee for my Dad:
VAN ZEE, Kenneth William.
Age 89 passed away from us September 20, 2008. Born May 16, 1919, as the second of four children to William Anthony and Mae Ford Van Zee, he was a life-long resident of Sacramento, except for three years spent in the Army. He lived for fifty-eight years in his home less than two miles from the house where he was born. Ken married Maxine Williams of Lavonia, GA, in 1946 and celebrated fifty-four anniversaries before her death in 2001. A loyal forty-year employee of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, his career was interrupted by WWII and he was, at one time, a supervisor of over 400 employees. Born into his beloved Fremont Presbyterian Church, twice elected a governing Elder, he most recently sang in the Saints Alive Choir. Ken is survived by his brother Elbert F. Van Zee; his two sons, John William Van Zee and Calvin James Van Zee; five grandchildren, Kaitlin Elizabeth Van Zee, Sarah Emily Van Zee, William Wood Van Zee, Audrey Norella Van Zee and Virginia Mae Van Zee; and two loving daughters-in-law, Melinda Davis Van Zee and Judith Drake Wood. His sister, Audrey DeLancey, and his brother, the Rev. C. Harold Van Zee preceded him in death. Memorial services will be held 11am Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at Fremont Presbyterian Church, 5770 Carlson Drive, Sacramento, CA 95819. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Fremont Presbyterian Church Music Program. Friends and family are invited to post stories about Ken at http://kenvanz ee.blogspot.com/.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Ken's Memorial
We held Ken's memorial at Fremont Presbyterian Church on Wed Nov 26, 2008. My brother John's wife, Melinda, his daughter's, Kaitlin and Sarah, and my son William all flew from the East coast to attend. My wife Judith and my daugher's Virginia and Audrey flew from Seattle. My Aunt Gerry, Harold's wife, was escorted by her son from Medford, my cousin Bruce. And Ken's surviving brother, El and his wife Mary also attended. Nearly all of my cousins on Ken's side were present. After the memorial we held a family gravesite service where Ken's cremains were placed into the plot where my Mother Maxine was buried. On Thursday John's and my family, all nine of us, ate Thanksgiving dinner together at Ken's house. Judith's mother, Ida and her partner Nita, a close family friend, were also there.
Below is the euology I wrote and presented for Ken at the memorial.
Eulogy for Ken Van Zee
Nov 26, 2008
Fremont Presbyterian Church
Sacramento, CA
I am Ken’s Seattle son, and standing next to me is my wife Judith who will help me if I’m unable to finish my remembrance for my father.
Thank you all for being here today: Dr. Willson, Jeanne Wallis, Bob Hearst and the Saints Alive choir, Sue Mooney and the Navigators Marinership, and Ken’s friends. When Ken flew up to Seattle in late June and we visited with his doctors, one of his primary goals for his heart surgery was to return here to his spiritual home to be with you all and sing again with the Saints Alive Choir.
Returning to my childhood church floods my mind with so many memories: the 36th and J St church; the construction of this church; from singing in the Cherub choir to the high school-college choir; and, reading from this lectern. My Dad was born into this church and Fremont was a huge part of his life. He loved you all dearly.
My father was a beautiful man. After looking at his childhood, adolescent and early adult photographs this week, it’s difficult to describe specific attributes of his physical beauty. As a mature adult though, my mother mentioned that strangers often mistook Ken for Jimmy Stewart, the actor- not my idea of masculine beauty, but apparently my mother thought so. As he became an elder I came to admire his physical beauty; his full shock of brilliant white hair was attractive and endeared him to his nurses in Seattle; some called him their boyfriend.
But Ken’s beauty was only a manifestation of his strongest attribute, his endearing kindness. Dr. Willson told us that he had only known my Dad for a year and a half, and of all of the people he has met, he said he didn’t know if he had ever met a kinder man. This is what attracted people to my Dad. When he asked people how they were, he wasn’t satisfied with small talk- he genuinely wanted to know their joys and concerns. Ken was so grateful for his life, for any success of his own, or for others. He was a child of the Great Depression, 10 years old at the market crash in 1929. For his entire adolescence, until he was drafted in 1943, a time when his values were imprinted, he experienced periods of unemployment with his father, who was a carpenter. He must have listened to stories of other families suffering more than his, and from those stories he learned to be grateful. These life lessons and his service during the Second World War, afford us to say, with a reverence we hope our children will understand, that he was a member of “the Greatest Generation.”
The remembrances of one son of a carpenter, led me to the stories about The son of another carpenter, a Jewish carpenter. Directed by Dr. Willson and the ministers at my Seattle church, I began a quest to find an appropriate Bible story that reflected my thoughts about my Dad. My search resulted in the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi printed in your Order of Service, and to the Gospel of Luke, specifically the Beatitudes, or the Blessings. The Beatitudes are part of a collection of sermons of Jesus of Nazareth, also recorded by Matthew, known as the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord’s Prayer, which we will say together at the end of this service, is also part of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke’s version resonates for me as some Biblical scholars believe his words were closer to those of Jesus. These teachings are also viewed by some as Jesus’ interpretation of the Laws of Moses, better known at the Ten Commandments. I will read only the first three Blessings from Luke 6: starting at verse 20:. Here’s what Jesus said:
1. Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
2. Blessed are you that hunger now for you will be satisfied.
3. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.
Rather than the King James version of the “Blessed are” phrase, the original Greek writing was a more emphatic “Congratulations.” Congratulations, you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
These were radical words in their day and also have profound meaning in our current financial crisis. As it was then, and is now normal to congratulate the prosperous and happy, Jesus was congratulating the poor, hungry and sorrowful. In this teaching, Jesus reminds us that God’s kingdom is invisible and everywhere, always present inside the hearts of those who love and care for others.
My father was a true disciple of his savior, practicing His teachings though kindness and compassion for those he met. He deeply cared for others with an openheart. For those simple acts of selflessness, he was seen by others as a beautiful man.
Kindness and beauty.
These are my Dad’s gift to us.
Thank you.
Below is the euology I wrote and presented for Ken at the memorial.
Eulogy for Ken Van Zee
Nov 26, 2008
Fremont Presbyterian Church
Sacramento, CA
I am Ken’s Seattle son, and standing next to me is my wife Judith who will help me if I’m unable to finish my remembrance for my father.
Thank you all for being here today: Dr. Willson, Jeanne Wallis, Bob Hearst and the Saints Alive choir, Sue Mooney and the Navigators Marinership, and Ken’s friends. When Ken flew up to Seattle in late June and we visited with his doctors, one of his primary goals for his heart surgery was to return here to his spiritual home to be with you all and sing again with the Saints Alive Choir.
Returning to my childhood church floods my mind with so many memories: the 36th and J St church; the construction of this church; from singing in the Cherub choir to the high school-college choir; and, reading from this lectern. My Dad was born into this church and Fremont was a huge part of his life. He loved you all dearly.
My father was a beautiful man. After looking at his childhood, adolescent and early adult photographs this week, it’s difficult to describe specific attributes of his physical beauty. As a mature adult though, my mother mentioned that strangers often mistook Ken for Jimmy Stewart, the actor- not my idea of masculine beauty, but apparently my mother thought so. As he became an elder I came to admire his physical beauty; his full shock of brilliant white hair was attractive and endeared him to his nurses in Seattle; some called him their boyfriend.
But Ken’s beauty was only a manifestation of his strongest attribute, his endearing kindness. Dr. Willson told us that he had only known my Dad for a year and a half, and of all of the people he has met, he said he didn’t know if he had ever met a kinder man. This is what attracted people to my Dad. When he asked people how they were, he wasn’t satisfied with small talk- he genuinely wanted to know their joys and concerns. Ken was so grateful for his life, for any success of his own, or for others. He was a child of the Great Depression, 10 years old at the market crash in 1929. For his entire adolescence, until he was drafted in 1943, a time when his values were imprinted, he experienced periods of unemployment with his father, who was a carpenter. He must have listened to stories of other families suffering more than his, and from those stories he learned to be grateful. These life lessons and his service during the Second World War, afford us to say, with a reverence we hope our children will understand, that he was a member of “the Greatest Generation.”
The remembrances of one son of a carpenter, led me to the stories about The son of another carpenter, a Jewish carpenter. Directed by Dr. Willson and the ministers at my Seattle church, I began a quest to find an appropriate Bible story that reflected my thoughts about my Dad. My search resulted in the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi printed in your Order of Service, and to the Gospel of Luke, specifically the Beatitudes, or the Blessings. The Beatitudes are part of a collection of sermons of Jesus of Nazareth, also recorded by Matthew, known as the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord’s Prayer, which we will say together at the end of this service, is also part of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke’s version resonates for me as some Biblical scholars believe his words were closer to those of Jesus. These teachings are also viewed by some as Jesus’ interpretation of the Laws of Moses, better known at the Ten Commandments. I will read only the first three Blessings from Luke 6: starting at verse 20:. Here’s what Jesus said:
1. Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
2. Blessed are you that hunger now for you will be satisfied.
3. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.
Rather than the King James version of the “Blessed are” phrase, the original Greek writing was a more emphatic “Congratulations.” Congratulations, you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
These were radical words in their day and also have profound meaning in our current financial crisis. As it was then, and is now normal to congratulate the prosperous and happy, Jesus was congratulating the poor, hungry and sorrowful. In this teaching, Jesus reminds us that God’s kingdom is invisible and everywhere, always present inside the hearts of those who love and care for others.
My father was a true disciple of his savior, practicing His teachings though kindness and compassion for those he met. He deeply cared for others with an openheart. For those simple acts of selflessness, he was seen by others as a beautiful man.
Kindness and beauty.
These are my Dad’s gift to us.
Thank you.
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