Vern Guerkink was an academic who sought to be a person of integrity. He is remembered as being humble, sincere, and friendly. He was an advocate for the disenfranchised and had a lifelong commitment to justice and mercy. Vern, 88, died Aug. 2.

A graduate of Calvin College (now University) and Seminary with post-graduate studies in Jerusalem and Amsterdam, Vern was ordained in 1964. He served Ellsworth (Mich.) Christian Reformed Church; Madison Square CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Eastern Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Grace CRC in Burke, Va.

In Burke, Vern completed a long-term care chaplaincy residency and then moved to Wykoff, N.J. to serve for nine years as chaplain to The Christian Healthcare Center. Upon retirement in 2001, Vern and his wife, Pat, moved to Naperville, Ill., where they remained in service at Wheaton CRC and where Vern supplied many years of interim ministry to Christian Reformed churches in the area.

Predeceased by Pat in 2018, Vern is survived by two sons and their spouses, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.