Harold James Terpstra

Harold James Terpstra was born at St Luke’s Hospital in Denver Colorado on July 17, 1928 to Isaac and Lena Terpstra where he became a younger brother in the family to his sister Clara. He graduated from Denver Christian and joined the Navy in April of 1946. He did boot camp in San Diego but spent the rest of his time at Pearl Harbor as a chauffeur to a Navy Captain. After returning to Denver from the Navy, Harold started working at Samsonite corporation and worked there until he retired.

Harold was set up on a blind date by a navy buddy with Elaine Hopp, where he “swept her off her feet” according to Elaine’s mother. Harold and Elaine dated for about 9 months before he proposed and gave her a ring on Easter morning. They were engaged for 14 months before they were married on June 2nd 1950 and soon after started a family. They had 4 children: Wayne, Terry, Trudy and Karen. They enjoyed camping, bowling on a league and traveling together with friends and family until Elaine passed away in 2014. They were blessed with 19 grandchildren.

In addition to his love for reading, Harold like to build bird houses and windmills for members of the family. He was also an Elder or a Deacon at Trinity Christian Reformed church and later Second Christian Reformed church. He also served on the board for Denver Christian schools. He loved cars, most notable, a 1970 Citron station wagon.

On December 16, 2020, Harold passed away at the age of 92 and is now with his wife Elaine in heaven. At this time, due to COVID, there will not be any memorial services. Family and friends will be notified when a service is planned sometime in 2021.