Mr Pier De Vries' Obituary
On April 18, 2015, with his children by his side, Pier De Vries went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and was reunited with the love of his life, Johanna De Vries. Born in Warns, Netherlands on Jan 7, 1926 to Jake and Weib De Vries, he was the youngest of eight children. His family came to the United States when he was a young boy. He served in the US Navy in World War II on a merchant marine ship, the USS Billingsley. On May 29, 1947 he married his childhood sweetheart, Johanna Reinalda. They spent their first married years together in New Jersey where they adopted their daughter, Sandy, in 1959 before moving to Redlands, Ca in 1960. From there, they relocated to San Bernardino where they adopted their son, John, in 1962. Pier worked for the Railway Express Agency (REA) until they went bankrupt, at which time he went to work for the county of San Bernardino. He also worked as a janitor, with Johanna by his side, for Southern California Edison and Holiday Oldsmobile. He and Johanna were active members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, where he also served as a Deacon. He loved the Lord with all his heart and it showed in the way he lived his life. Pier will be remembered for his strong faith and his witty sense of humor. He was an honest, hard-working, Christian man who instilled those values in his children. He spent countless hours doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles and enjoyed playing the old hymns on his harmonica and his accordion. He was preceded in death by his siblings (Jacob De Vries, Henry De Vries, Rena Lantinga, Winnie Vooys, Sam De Vries, David De Vries, Peter De Vries) and his wife of 64 years, Johanna. He is survived by his children; Sandy Virden of Arroyo Grande, and John (Jeri) De Vries of Apple Valley, 7 grandchildren; Cynthia, Kristi, Timmy, Mariah, and Heather Virden, Sean Sullivan, and Amanda (David) Pollard, and 6 great-grandchildren.
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