Johannes and Hendrika Matthyssen
It is with great sadness that we announce that Johannes (Joop/Joe) and Hendrika (Henny) Matthyssen passed away peacefully at home surrounded by their loving family. Johannes was born on May 15, 1930 to Joannes and Gijsberta (Geurtsen) Matthijssen and passed away on May 16, 2024 at the age of 94. Hendrika (Henny) Matthyssen was born on December 28, 1930 to Anthonie and Bertha (Hazeleger) Renes and passed away on March 13, 2024 at the age of 93. They were both born in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Joe and Henny Matthyssen were married on December 2, 1954 in Utrecht. They immigrated to the U.S. in March of 1957. Shortly thereafter, Joe began his rewarding career as a Machinist/Sales Engineer at Industrial Welding Inc. (Enprotech Mechanical Services) for 34 years. In his spare time, Joe pursued his passion for soccer by playing, coaching, and refereeing soccer for more years than we can count! However, the true love of his life was always his wife, Henny. They spent 69 loving years together and often talked about how wonderful their lives have been together living in the U.S. Joe always said that his wife was “his number one!” He devoted his entire life to loving and taking care of his family.
Henny was a homemaker whose greatest passions were taking care of her wonderful family and sewing. Henny was an extremely talented self-taught seamstress and started sewing when she was only twelve years old and continued sewing until she was 92 years old. In the Lansing area, she was a founding member of the Lansing Clippers and American Sewing Guild, and belonged to various bowling leagues. She enjoyed her volunteer work (sewing projects) and attending her children’s athletic events. She loved baking, cake decorating, cooking Dutch recipes, and reading. For the last twenty years, she spent her time making beautiful quilts for her entire extended family. Each one of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have a quilt made especially for them. Her love of sewing was only surpassed by her love for her family; especially for her husband, Joop. They were soul mates and made a wonderful life together in the United States.
Joe and Henny were preceded in death by their parents; Joe’s brother, Frans Matthijssen, and his sisters, Greet Matthijssen and Berta Gerritsen; and Henny’s seven brothers and sisters. Joe and Henny are survived by their three children, Johanna (Brian) Haack, Yvonne (Dennis) Barens, and Johnny (Kim H.) Matthyssen; along with their eight grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. Joe and Henny are also survived by Joe’s brother, Gerard (Ada) Matthijssen, his sister, Joke Matthijssen, and their sister-in-law, Johanna Matthijssen; and many nieces, nephews, and other extended family in the U.S., Canada, and The Netherlands.
Friends are encouraged to support the Matthyssen family by attending services or sharing memories on their Tribute Pages at www.prayfuneral.com. Visitation for Joe and Henny is Friday, June 7, 2-4:00 p.m. and 6-8:00 p.m. at Palmer Bush and Jensen Holt Chapel, 5035 Holt Road, Holt. Memorial services are Saturday, June 8, 11:00 a.m. at Palmer Bush and Jensen Holt Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either of the following: Holt Public Schools to help support the Holt High School Soccer programs (donations should be mailed to the Superintendent’s Office at 5780 West Holt Road, Holt, MI 48842) or to The National Kidney Foundation (www.kidney.org). The family is in the care of Pray Funeral Home, Charlotte.