GENEALOGY OF ANDREW MASSELINK; GENERATION 9
Generation Number:112211324
Additional Biography of Bena is at the bottom of this page
KLEINE MASSELINK HARMEN 1660-1731
KLEINE MASSELINK GEERD 1693-1743
KLEINE MASSELINK HARMEN 1719-1771
KLEINE MASSELINK HENDRIK 1747-1790
KLEINE MASSELINK FENNE 1771-1843
KLEINE MASSELINK GERRIT HENDRIK 1792-1870
KLEINE MASSELINK (MASSELINK) HENDRIK 1829-1907
KLEINE MASSELINK (MASSELINK) GERRIT HENDRIK (GH) 1858-1927
MASSELINK ANDREW 1888-1977
Masselink Siblings: Henry (1883); Paul Reemt (1885); Gertrude (1887); Andrew (1888); Herman (1890-died as a young child); John (1891); Anna (1893); George (1895); William (1897); Edward (1901)
Spouse: Berendena (Bena) Beckering Masselink
Masselink Children: George (1916); Frank (1918); Edward (1920); Grace (Grayce) (1922); Harold (1924); Jeanette (Toots) (1926); John (1928); Benjamin (1933), Katheryn (1939)
1st George Henry is named after Andrew's father Gerrit Henry (GH).
2nd Franklin (Frank) is named after Bena's father Frank Beckering and according to Dutch tradition.
3rd Edward Herman Masselink is named after Andrew's mother Etta as they were expecting a girl.
4th Grayce Bernice Staal is named after Bena's mother; a curly-headed first granddaughter pampered by Bena's parents.
5th Harold Alvin is named after Andrew's brother Herman who died at the age of two.
6th Jeanette (Toots) Eleanor Masselink DeJong; born unexpectedly amidst the canning of meat; named after Bena's two sisters, Ella and Jennie.
7th John Raymond is named after Andrew's brother which prompted his uncle John to open a ten dollar bank account for his namesake.
8th Benjamin (Ben) is born on a wintry day; Andrew and Bena chose the name in a "unified way".
9th Kathryn Ann (Kay) is named after Bena's sister Catherine and husband Andrew 's sister Anna.
Andrew was the efficient one. He could grow a crop when everyone else failed and he might have qualified for membership in the Master Farmer's organization. While others were debating whether a thing could be done and how to go about it, he was probably out there doing it. He ended up owning four farms in Minnesota.
As a young man he was shy, quiet and rather retiring, and to us young ones, understanding, patient and kind. When I was eight years old or so, one morning at the breakfast table there had been talk of shipping a carload of steers to the stockyards in Sioux City, Iowa. During the day the steers had been separated from the herd and placed in an enclosure where we usually did our milking. On the way home from school I had driven the milk cows from the pasture. Coming home, I had opened the gate and had mixed them with the separated steers. I should have known better and should have been more alert, and was told so in no uncertain terms and was duly flattened. Coming past me, Andrew said quietly, "It's all right Ed, we all make mistakes." It happened 75 years ago, but I never forgot it.
Andrew and I slept together in the little southeast bedroom with the closet taken out of it. Gertie and Annie slept across the hall. Henry, Reemt, George, [John] and Bill slept in the long rooms where we kept the seed corn under the beds. This long bedroom was partly heated by a small grate in the kitchen ceiling. (The kitchen and dining room were the same.)
You learn a great deal about a person when you sleep with him. I was a difficult one to sleep with and on occasion when I slept with someone else they let me know it. Andrew was always considerate. He let me warm my cold feet against him. I tossed around a lot, but he never kicked me. In the morning when he got up, he was careful not to waken me. Such [memories] stay with you for life.
Andrew always managed to save a little money. When he was about 19 he decided to blow it and go to the State Fair in Minneapolis, MN. As far as I know, no one in the community had ever done this. He took the train to Miloma Junction and then the Minneapolis-St. Louis train to Minneapolis. He got a room and stayed three days. When he came home he told us that he had visited the Savage Mail order Catalog Plant and had seen the horse Dan Patch, the famous trotter belonging to [Mr.] Savage on the racetrack. Every week we knew at which state fair Dan Patch was racing, even as far away as Omaha and St. Louis. He was one of the sleekest race horses ever and we had a picture of him.
Andrew also a good streak of get-up-and-fight in him. During the Dutch to English controversy in the Leota Christian Reformed Church, he and [brother Paul] Reemt were alternating elders as brothers could not serve at the same time. Reemt encouraged the preacher by quietly but unequivocally supporting him. Andrew, on the other hand, went to bat with the die-hards and stood up against the English group.
Andrew was an indefatigable worker in the Kingdom of God. He made regular trips to the prison in Sioux Falls, SD with Reverend Cornie Van Zee. When Van Zee was in Anchorage, AK, Andrew and his brother-in-law, Dr. Garret Beckering, undertook the whole support of the extensive evangelistic effort in Alaska. In the annals of the Kingdom he will have a remembered place.
Above are recollections by Dr. Edward Masselink.
Andrew owned and managed four farms and is very active in the affairs of the Christian Reformed Church and Christian Schools. (Of course when Andrew was out contributing his time for various civic and religious duties, his (sometimes resentful) wife was left at home to keep the household running. Andrew's daughter Kay stated that Andrew really wanted to become a Minister but needed to stay on the farm to generate income to support his parents and younger siblings when they went to Grand Rapids, MI and Grundy, IA to pursue a Christian education for the younger children (All four of his younger brothers became ministers). Andrew has a strong Christian faith and in that regard, closely follows the example set by his father, GH. (GH was an exceptional Christian but not an exceptional farmer like his son, Andrew).
abt 1882+ The GH, Etta and family live and work on farms GH buys and sells in Fremont MI; Miservy IA (2 different farms); and Leota MN.
1888 Sep 24 Andrew is born in Fremont, MI in the vicinity of Reeman; As a result of a fire that burned down GH's log cabin, the family found refuge in an abandoned blacksmith shop with a mud floor. Here their son Andrew is born.
1894 Sep 23 Future wife Berendena (Bena) Beckering is born in Leota, MN. (See SPOUSES Tab).
1911 Bena and Andrew both belong to the Leota Young People's Society of the Leota CRC.
1915 Jan 27 Andrew and Bena Beckering married by Domine William De Groot in Leota, MN; Respective fathers, Frank Beckering and GH Masselink signed the Marriage Certificate as witnesses.
1915 Bena has a terrible stomach ache that won't go away. Andrew's cure is to go to the barn, fill a rucksack full of oats, heat it and place the hot oats on Bena's stomach. When the hot oat remedy failed to work, Bena's mother Grace (a strong-willed and quick-tongued woman) was summoned. "She surveyed the scene without mirth" and then reprimanded Andrew soundly for not recognizing that Bena was pregnant with their first child, who was to be named George (Born 1916 Jan 21).
1917 Jun 2 WWI Draft Registration Card states that Andrew is a self employed farmer and requests draft exemption because he "supports family (wife and one small child) alone on a 160 acre farm"; Medium height and build; Blue eyes; Dark brown hair.
1940 Jan Andrew and Bena's 25th Anniversary is spent with family during the day and with the consistory in the evening. Hattie and Cora Koedam bake fluffy angel and sunshine cakes served with coffee, sandwiches, cookies and ice cream.
1961 Summer When son Ed Masselink and family visited Andrew and Bena in Edgerton at their mechanics street house, Andrew falls off the roof at age 72 while helping to repair the shingles on his two story house. He was brought to the the hospital by ambulance and released soon after.
abt 1973 House in Edgerton, MN is sold and they move permanently to Grand Rapids, MI
abt 1973 Andrew and Bena permanently move from Edgerton MN to 814 Edna Street, Grand Rapids MI. This modern house is Bena's dream come true. Andrew would not buy a house unless it is within walking distance to church and this house is located about two blocks from Seymour CRC. This house is also about a half block away from where their son Edward lives at 871 Edna Street.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.921882,-85.646885,3a,75y,169.95h,89.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s-Tw2ikpjAjL3lMaJI1RQYg!2e0
19xx Andrew transfers ownership of his four farms to his children.
1975 Jan 27 Family and friends celebrate Andrew and Bena's 60th wedding anniversary.
1975 Oct 2 After some resistance by Andrew, they move to Heather Hills Retirement Home in Grand Rapids, MI. Son Edward tells his father that his mother Bena needs to retire too and that she is moving to Heather Hills. Andrew is given the choice of staying alone on Edna Street or moving with Bena to Heather Hills. Andrew decides to move with Bena to Heather Hills. Their Edna Street house is donated to the Christian Reformed Board of Home Missions for use by overseas missionaries visiting the United States.
1977 Nov 11 Andrew dies at the age of 89; 36 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren on the date of his death; Buried in Washington Park Memorial Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI; His brother, Dr. Edward Masselink, officiates at the funeral; Burial plot originally belonged to son Edward; Andrew, Bena, Edward, and Edward's wife Geraldine are all buried in adjoining plots; Edward's stepdaughter Jane's husband, Jose Pantoja, is buried close by; Burial location is across the street from the corner of Emerson and Richmond; Andrew's eldest son George dies shortly thereafter on 1977 Dec 23.
1977-1989 Bena (Bernadine) stays at Heather Hills, 1055 Forest Hill SE, Grand Rapids, MI until her health deteriorates and she needs a gall bladder operation; The operation is difficult and she develops Alzheimer's disease; "She sat restlessly in her wheelchair with an expressionless face, no longer caring or conscious of person, time or space."
1989 Feb 1 After taking ill with the flu, Bena dies and is buried along side her husband at the Washington Park Memorial Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI.
Berendina (Bena) Beckering Masselink
Bena is the oldest of six surviving children. Hillie, the first born, dies around 1895 of diphtheria when Bena is hardly more than one. Bena has three younger sisters (Catherine, Ella, and Jennie) and two younger brothers (Gerrit and a second Hillie). Her cousin Bertha confides that Bena cherishes her schooling and wants to be a medical doctor. When Bena's teacher told her parents of this dream, they reply: "She's needed at home" and she quits school after the sixth grade. As the oldest, Bena is in the unenviable position. Instead of pursuing her dreams, she has to work hard on the farm and help take care of the family.
Bena cooks and cleans, learns to crochet and knit, and takes care of her siblings, but her heart is not in it. Grandma Hofkamp notices that Bena is unhappy and needs to learn something new. So she gives Bena her Dutch Psalm Book and loans Bena her pump organ. Grandma Hofkamp also finds Bena a Dutch music teacher who gives her lessons and Bena is soon playing the organ for her grandma on Sunday afternoons. Grandma Hofkamp also takes Bena on trips, such as a train trip to Des Moines to see relatives despite protests of favoritism by Bena's cousins. But Grandma likes Bena best as Bena is a wonderful, cheerful companion who also translate for her, as her Grandma's English is not very good.
Married life on the farm with her husband Andrew is difficult and fast paced. Bena's father Frank summed it up by saying "It's always a circus at your place." Bena bakes eight loaves of bread every other day and on Saturdays, she also makes pies and cakes. She also sews all the bedding, makes dresses, mends clothing, and crochets rugs from discarded clothes. Saturdays also means dusting, mopping and waxing the floor, peeling potatoes and vegetables, and dressing chickens. In addition, Sunday clothes are ironed, shoes are cleaned and polished, and each family member bathes in a canvas tub in the kitchen. Each member of the family also has their own place at the long table which has a shelf underneath for their individual Bibles. Oatmeal is served every morning for breakfast except on Sundays, when after Andrew says the Lord's prayer, they have Cream of Wheat. Bena also takes care of the chickens that arrive as chirping little chicks by mail in the spring. She feeds and waters them and cleans their coop and transforms them into hens.
There is a well-known proverb in Dutch that refers to how something should divided: "kieenof delen" (choose or divide). It refers to the situation when one person makes the portions and the others have the first choice of what piece they want. Thomas Masselink (GEN 11) remembers his Grandma Bena Masselink using this strategy when dividing the last piece of a dessert between him and his brother: "One cuts and the other chooses."
1888 24 SEP Future husband Andrew born in Fremont, MI. As a result of a fire that burned down GH's log cabin, the family finds refuge in an abandoned blacksmith shop with a mud floor. Here Andrew is born.
1894 SEP 23 Berendena (Bena) Beckering born in Leota, MN
1910 At the age of 16, Bena goes to Rock Valley (probably Iowa) to learn how to sew and in four happy weeks she is "sewing like a pro". After she returns, Bena works as a "hired girl".
1911 Bena and Andrew both belong to the Leota Young People's Society of the Leota CRC (See picture below left). After the worship service, the young people often paired off. Gerrit Wassink, a cobbler with a house on Main Street, tries to court Bena but loses out to Andrew Masselink, a powerful force for whom the word "no" did not exist. So Bena decides to give up on her cobbler and marry a farmer. The wedding is scheduled before spring farm work begins. Bena makes her own wedding dress on a form she named "Tillie". She also has a bouquet of orange blossoms and even sews some of the flowers onto her veil.
1915 JAN 27 Andrew Masselink and Bena Beckering are married by Domine W. De Groot in Leota, MN. For their honey-moon they take a train to Des Moines where Andrew meets Bena's relatives. When they get back to the farm, Bena helps Andrew put in the crop until they find out that she is pregnant.
1916 JAN A week before their first anniversary, Bena gets a terrible stomach-ache. Andrew thinks Bena has the flu because he believes that the baby is not due for another few weeks. Andrew's remedy is to go to the barn, put oats in a rucksack, heat it up, and place the warm rucksack on her "stomack". When the hot oats remedy does not work, Bena's mother Grace (a sharp tonged woman) is summoned for some additional medical advice. When she arrives, Andrew is reprimanded soundly for not recognizing the imminent birth. Their first child, George Henry, is born shortly thereafter.
1916-1939 Andrew and Bena are blessed with a total of nine children.
1940 JAN Andrew and Bena's 25th Anniversary is spent with family during the day and with the consistory in the evening. Hattie and Cora Koedam bake fluffy angel and sunshine cakes that are served with sandwiches, cookies, ice cream and coffee.
abt 1973 After all their children are married, they sell their house in Edgerton, MN and move permanently to Grand Rapids, MI
abt 1973 Andrew and Bena move to Edna Street, Grand Rapids, MI. This modern house is Bena's dream come true. Andrew would not buy a house unless it was within walking distance to church. This house meets that criteria as it is located about two blocks from Seymour CRC. This house is also about a block away from where their son Edward lives at 871 Edna Street. On Sundays after church on Edna Street, the ladies would stay in the kitchen and the guys would be in the living room. Each wife would serve their husband coffee and cake in the living room and then retreat back to the kitchen with Grandma. The children fend for themselves. Grayce's daughter (GEN (10) Beth (GEN 11) later stays with Andrew and Bena to help them when they got older.
1975 Family and friends celebrate Andrew and Bena's 60th wedding anniversary.
19XX Their third son, Edward (GEN 10), was known as the "mama's boy" as he was the one who looked out for his mother and his sisters when they were growing up. (In fact, sister Jeanette (GEN 10) once told Thomas (GEN 11) that she called Edward "her hero" for the way he always "protected" her when she was growing up). As such, Edward makes preliminary arrangements for his mother and father to move to the best retirement home in Grand Rapids, Heather Hills. After some resistance by Andrew, he and Bena move there. Son Edward first had to tell his father Andrew that his mother Bena needs to retire too and that she is moving to Heather Hills. Andrew has the choice of staying alone on Edna Street or moving with Bena to Heather Hills. Andrew decides to move with Bena to Heather Hills. At Heather Hills, Bena is the envy of the other residents for the number of visitors she and Andrew have each week, as many members of their family routinely stop by throughout the week, especially on Sunday mornings after church. (Bena usually serves coffee and her homemade apple cake on Sundays).
1977 NOV 11 Andrew dies and is buried in Washington Park Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI.
1977-1989 Bena stays at Heather Hills until her health deteriorates and she needs a gall bladder operation; the operation is difficult and she develops Alzheimer's disease; "she sat restlessly in her wheelchair with an expressionless face, no longer caring or conscious of person, time or space."
1989 FEB 1 After taking ill with the flu, Bena dies and is buried alongside Andrew in Washington Park Memorial Gardens.
Generation Number:112211324
Additional Biography of Bena is at the bottom of this page
KLEINE MASSELINK HARMEN 1660-1731
KLEINE MASSELINK GEERD 1693-1743
KLEINE MASSELINK HARMEN 1719-1771
KLEINE MASSELINK HENDRIK 1747-1790
KLEINE MASSELINK FENNE 1771-1843
KLEINE MASSELINK GERRIT HENDRIK 1792-1870
KLEINE MASSELINK (MASSELINK) HENDRIK 1829-1907
KLEINE MASSELINK (MASSELINK) GERRIT HENDRIK (GH) 1858-1927
MASSELINK ANDREW 1888-1977
Masselink Siblings: Henry (1883); Paul Reemt (1885); Gertrude (1887); Andrew (1888); Herman (1890-died as a young child); John (1891); Anna (1893); George (1895); William (1897); Edward (1901)
Spouse: Berendena (Bena) Beckering Masselink
Masselink Children: George (1916); Frank (1918); Edward (1920); Grace (Grayce) (1922); Harold (1924); Jeanette (Toots) (1926); John (1928); Benjamin (1933), Katheryn (1939)
1st George Henry is named after Andrew's father Gerrit Henry (GH).
2nd Franklin (Frank) is named after Bena's father Frank Beckering and according to Dutch tradition.
3rd Edward Herman Masselink is named after Andrew's mother Etta as they were expecting a girl.
4th Grayce Bernice Staal is named after Bena's mother; a curly-headed first granddaughter pampered by Bena's parents.
5th Harold Alvin is named after Andrew's brother Herman who died at the age of two.
6th Jeanette (Toots) Eleanor Masselink DeJong; born unexpectedly amidst the canning of meat; named after Bena's two sisters, Ella and Jennie.
7th John Raymond is named after Andrew's brother which prompted his uncle John to open a ten dollar bank account for his namesake.
8th Benjamin (Ben) is born on a wintry day; Andrew and Bena chose the name in a "unified way".
9th Kathryn Ann (Kay) is named after Bena's sister Catherine and husband Andrew 's sister Anna.
Andrew was the efficient one. He could grow a crop when everyone else failed and he might have qualified for membership in the Master Farmer's organization. While others were debating whether a thing could be done and how to go about it, he was probably out there doing it. He ended up owning four farms in Minnesota.
As a young man he was shy, quiet and rather retiring, and to us young ones, understanding, patient and kind. When I was eight years old or so, one morning at the breakfast table there had been talk of shipping a carload of steers to the stockyards in Sioux City, Iowa. During the day the steers had been separated from the herd and placed in an enclosure where we usually did our milking. On the way home from school I had driven the milk cows from the pasture. Coming home, I had opened the gate and had mixed them with the separated steers. I should have known better and should have been more alert, and was told so in no uncertain terms and was duly flattened. Coming past me, Andrew said quietly, "It's all right Ed, we all make mistakes." It happened 75 years ago, but I never forgot it.
Andrew and I slept together in the little southeast bedroom with the closet taken out of it. Gertie and Annie slept across the hall. Henry, Reemt, George, [John] and Bill slept in the long rooms where we kept the seed corn under the beds. This long bedroom was partly heated by a small grate in the kitchen ceiling. (The kitchen and dining room were the same.)
You learn a great deal about a person when you sleep with him. I was a difficult one to sleep with and on occasion when I slept with someone else they let me know it. Andrew was always considerate. He let me warm my cold feet against him. I tossed around a lot, but he never kicked me. In the morning when he got up, he was careful not to waken me. Such [memories] stay with you for life.
Andrew always managed to save a little money. When he was about 19 he decided to blow it and go to the State Fair in Minneapolis, MN. As far as I know, no one in the community had ever done this. He took the train to Miloma Junction and then the Minneapolis-St. Louis train to Minneapolis. He got a room and stayed three days. When he came home he told us that he had visited the Savage Mail order Catalog Plant and had seen the horse Dan Patch, the famous trotter belonging to [Mr.] Savage on the racetrack. Every week we knew at which state fair Dan Patch was racing, even as far away as Omaha and St. Louis. He was one of the sleekest race horses ever and we had a picture of him.
Andrew also a good streak of get-up-and-fight in him. During the Dutch to English controversy in the Leota Christian Reformed Church, he and [brother Paul] Reemt were alternating elders as brothers could not serve at the same time. Reemt encouraged the preacher by quietly but unequivocally supporting him. Andrew, on the other hand, went to bat with the die-hards and stood up against the English group.
Andrew was an indefatigable worker in the Kingdom of God. He made regular trips to the prison in Sioux Falls, SD with Reverend Cornie Van Zee. When Van Zee was in Anchorage, AK, Andrew and his brother-in-law, Dr. Garret Beckering, undertook the whole support of the extensive evangelistic effort in Alaska. In the annals of the Kingdom he will have a remembered place.
Above are recollections by Dr. Edward Masselink.
Andrew owned and managed four farms and is very active in the affairs of the Christian Reformed Church and Christian Schools. (Of course when Andrew was out contributing his time for various civic and religious duties, his (sometimes resentful) wife was left at home to keep the household running. Andrew's daughter Kay stated that Andrew really wanted to become a Minister but needed to stay on the farm to generate income to support his parents and younger siblings when they went to Grand Rapids, MI and Grundy, IA to pursue a Christian education for the younger children (All four of his younger brothers became ministers). Andrew has a strong Christian faith and in that regard, closely follows the example set by his father, GH. (GH was an exceptional Christian but not an exceptional farmer like his son, Andrew).
abt 1882+ The GH, Etta and family live and work on farms GH buys and sells in Fremont MI; Miservy IA (2 different farms); and Leota MN.
1888 Sep 24 Andrew is born in Fremont, MI in the vicinity of Reeman; As a result of a fire that burned down GH's log cabin, the family found refuge in an abandoned blacksmith shop with a mud floor. Here their son Andrew is born.
1894 Sep 23 Future wife Berendena (Bena) Beckering is born in Leota, MN. (See SPOUSES Tab).
1911 Bena and Andrew both belong to the Leota Young People's Society of the Leota CRC.
1915 Jan 27 Andrew and Bena Beckering married by Domine William De Groot in Leota, MN; Respective fathers, Frank Beckering and GH Masselink signed the Marriage Certificate as witnesses.
1915 Bena has a terrible stomach ache that won't go away. Andrew's cure is to go to the barn, fill a rucksack full of oats, heat it and place the hot oats on Bena's stomach. When the hot oat remedy failed to work, Bena's mother Grace (a strong-willed and quick-tongued woman) was summoned. "She surveyed the scene without mirth" and then reprimanded Andrew soundly for not recognizing that Bena was pregnant with their first child, who was to be named George (Born 1916 Jan 21).
1917 Jun 2 WWI Draft Registration Card states that Andrew is a self employed farmer and requests draft exemption because he "supports family (wife and one small child) alone on a 160 acre farm"; Medium height and build; Blue eyes; Dark brown hair.
1940 Jan Andrew and Bena's 25th Anniversary is spent with family during the day and with the consistory in the evening. Hattie and Cora Koedam bake fluffy angel and sunshine cakes served with coffee, sandwiches, cookies and ice cream.
1961 Summer When son Ed Masselink and family visited Andrew and Bena in Edgerton at their mechanics street house, Andrew falls off the roof at age 72 while helping to repair the shingles on his two story house. He was brought to the the hospital by ambulance and released soon after.
abt 1973 House in Edgerton, MN is sold and they move permanently to Grand Rapids, MI
abt 1973 Andrew and Bena permanently move from Edgerton MN to 814 Edna Street, Grand Rapids MI. This modern house is Bena's dream come true. Andrew would not buy a house unless it is within walking distance to church and this house is located about two blocks from Seymour CRC. This house is also about a half block away from where their son Edward lives at 871 Edna Street.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.921882,-85.646885,3a,75y,169.95h,89.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s-Tw2ikpjAjL3lMaJI1RQYg!2e0
19xx Andrew transfers ownership of his four farms to his children.
1975 Jan 27 Family and friends celebrate Andrew and Bena's 60th wedding anniversary.
1975 Oct 2 After some resistance by Andrew, they move to Heather Hills Retirement Home in Grand Rapids, MI. Son Edward tells his father that his mother Bena needs to retire too and that she is moving to Heather Hills. Andrew is given the choice of staying alone on Edna Street or moving with Bena to Heather Hills. Andrew decides to move with Bena to Heather Hills. Their Edna Street house is donated to the Christian Reformed Board of Home Missions for use by overseas missionaries visiting the United States.
1977 Nov 11 Andrew dies at the age of 89; 36 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren on the date of his death; Buried in Washington Park Memorial Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI; His brother, Dr. Edward Masselink, officiates at the funeral; Burial plot originally belonged to son Edward; Andrew, Bena, Edward, and Edward's wife Geraldine are all buried in adjoining plots; Edward's stepdaughter Jane's husband, Jose Pantoja, is buried close by; Burial location is across the street from the corner of Emerson and Richmond; Andrew's eldest son George dies shortly thereafter on 1977 Dec 23.
1977-1989 Bena (Bernadine) stays at Heather Hills, 1055 Forest Hill SE, Grand Rapids, MI until her health deteriorates and she needs a gall bladder operation; The operation is difficult and she develops Alzheimer's disease; "She sat restlessly in her wheelchair with an expressionless face, no longer caring or conscious of person, time or space."
1989 Feb 1 After taking ill with the flu, Bena dies and is buried along side her husband at the Washington Park Memorial Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI.
Berendina (Bena) Beckering Masselink
Bena is the oldest of six surviving children. Hillie, the first born, dies around 1895 of diphtheria when Bena is hardly more than one. Bena has three younger sisters (Catherine, Ella, and Jennie) and two younger brothers (Gerrit and a second Hillie). Her cousin Bertha confides that Bena cherishes her schooling and wants to be a medical doctor. When Bena's teacher told her parents of this dream, they reply: "She's needed at home" and she quits school after the sixth grade. As the oldest, Bena is in the unenviable position. Instead of pursuing her dreams, she has to work hard on the farm and help take care of the family.
Bena cooks and cleans, learns to crochet and knit, and takes care of her siblings, but her heart is not in it. Grandma Hofkamp notices that Bena is unhappy and needs to learn something new. So she gives Bena her Dutch Psalm Book and loans Bena her pump organ. Grandma Hofkamp also finds Bena a Dutch music teacher who gives her lessons and Bena is soon playing the organ for her grandma on Sunday afternoons. Grandma Hofkamp also takes Bena on trips, such as a train trip to Des Moines to see relatives despite protests of favoritism by Bena's cousins. But Grandma likes Bena best as Bena is a wonderful, cheerful companion who also translate for her, as her Grandma's English is not very good.
Married life on the farm with her husband Andrew is difficult and fast paced. Bena's father Frank summed it up by saying "It's always a circus at your place." Bena bakes eight loaves of bread every other day and on Saturdays, she also makes pies and cakes. She also sews all the bedding, makes dresses, mends clothing, and crochets rugs from discarded clothes. Saturdays also means dusting, mopping and waxing the floor, peeling potatoes and vegetables, and dressing chickens. In addition, Sunday clothes are ironed, shoes are cleaned and polished, and each family member bathes in a canvas tub in the kitchen. Each member of the family also has their own place at the long table which has a shelf underneath for their individual Bibles. Oatmeal is served every morning for breakfast except on Sundays, when after Andrew says the Lord's prayer, they have Cream of Wheat. Bena also takes care of the chickens that arrive as chirping little chicks by mail in the spring. She feeds and waters them and cleans their coop and transforms them into hens.
There is a well-known proverb in Dutch that refers to how something should divided: "kieenof delen" (choose or divide). It refers to the situation when one person makes the portions and the others have the first choice of what piece they want. Thomas Masselink (GEN 11) remembers his Grandma Bena Masselink using this strategy when dividing the last piece of a dessert between him and his brother: "One cuts and the other chooses."
1888 24 SEP Future husband Andrew born in Fremont, MI. As a result of a fire that burned down GH's log cabin, the family finds refuge in an abandoned blacksmith shop with a mud floor. Here Andrew is born.
1894 SEP 23 Berendena (Bena) Beckering born in Leota, MN
1910 At the age of 16, Bena goes to Rock Valley (probably Iowa) to learn how to sew and in four happy weeks she is "sewing like a pro". After she returns, Bena works as a "hired girl".
1911 Bena and Andrew both belong to the Leota Young People's Society of the Leota CRC (See picture below left). After the worship service, the young people often paired off. Gerrit Wassink, a cobbler with a house on Main Street, tries to court Bena but loses out to Andrew Masselink, a powerful force for whom the word "no" did not exist. So Bena decides to give up on her cobbler and marry a farmer. The wedding is scheduled before spring farm work begins. Bena makes her own wedding dress on a form she named "Tillie". She also has a bouquet of orange blossoms and even sews some of the flowers onto her veil.
1915 JAN 27 Andrew Masselink and Bena Beckering are married by Domine W. De Groot in Leota, MN. For their honey-moon they take a train to Des Moines where Andrew meets Bena's relatives. When they get back to the farm, Bena helps Andrew put in the crop until they find out that she is pregnant.
1916 JAN A week before their first anniversary, Bena gets a terrible stomach-ache. Andrew thinks Bena has the flu because he believes that the baby is not due for another few weeks. Andrew's remedy is to go to the barn, put oats in a rucksack, heat it up, and place the warm rucksack on her "stomack". When the hot oats remedy does not work, Bena's mother Grace (a sharp tonged woman) is summoned for some additional medical advice. When she arrives, Andrew is reprimanded soundly for not recognizing the imminent birth. Their first child, George Henry, is born shortly thereafter.
1916-1939 Andrew and Bena are blessed with a total of nine children.
1940 JAN Andrew and Bena's 25th Anniversary is spent with family during the day and with the consistory in the evening. Hattie and Cora Koedam bake fluffy angel and sunshine cakes that are served with sandwiches, cookies, ice cream and coffee.
abt 1973 After all their children are married, they sell their house in Edgerton, MN and move permanently to Grand Rapids, MI
abt 1973 Andrew and Bena move to Edna Street, Grand Rapids, MI. This modern house is Bena's dream come true. Andrew would not buy a house unless it was within walking distance to church. This house meets that criteria as it is located about two blocks from Seymour CRC. This house is also about a block away from where their son Edward lives at 871 Edna Street. On Sundays after church on Edna Street, the ladies would stay in the kitchen and the guys would be in the living room. Each wife would serve their husband coffee and cake in the living room and then retreat back to the kitchen with Grandma. The children fend for themselves. Grayce's daughter (GEN (10) Beth (GEN 11) later stays with Andrew and Bena to help them when they got older.
1975 Family and friends celebrate Andrew and Bena's 60th wedding anniversary.
19XX Their third son, Edward (GEN 10), was known as the "mama's boy" as he was the one who looked out for his mother and his sisters when they were growing up. (In fact, sister Jeanette (GEN 10) once told Thomas (GEN 11) that she called Edward "her hero" for the way he always "protected" her when she was growing up). As such, Edward makes preliminary arrangements for his mother and father to move to the best retirement home in Grand Rapids, Heather Hills. After some resistance by Andrew, he and Bena move there. Son Edward first had to tell his father Andrew that his mother Bena needs to retire too and that she is moving to Heather Hills. Andrew has the choice of staying alone on Edna Street or moving with Bena to Heather Hills. Andrew decides to move with Bena to Heather Hills. At Heather Hills, Bena is the envy of the other residents for the number of visitors she and Andrew have each week, as many members of their family routinely stop by throughout the week, especially on Sunday mornings after church. (Bena usually serves coffee and her homemade apple cake on Sundays).
1977 NOV 11 Andrew dies and is buried in Washington Park Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI.
1977-1989 Bena stays at Heather Hills until her health deteriorates and she needs a gall bladder operation; the operation is difficult and she develops Alzheimer's disease; "she sat restlessly in her wheelchair with an expressionless face, no longer caring or conscious of person, time or space."
1989 FEB 1 After taking ill with the flu, Bena dies and is buried alongside Andrew in Washington Park Memorial Gardens.