Joe VandenBrink passed away at home peacefully in his sleep on July 22nd, 2011 at the age of 86. Joe was born Sept. 7th, 1924; he lived and worked his whole life in Sawyer WA. His parents emigrated from Holland and settled in Sawyer after finding Manitoba a bit too cold. Joe was next to youngest among his siblings of Johnny, Jenny, Henry, and Andy. The family had the Sawyer Grocery Store during the depression years and making it through these difficult times made the family close. The kids had to work harder because their dad was ill and Joe and Henry alternated days going to school one year so they could manage the store. The store burned down and all the siblings chipped in to pay down the mortgage for rebuilding.
Joe took longer to marry so he got to relish his role of uncle. Joe and Henry went into business together right after the war and started a garage repairing farm equipment. Joe married Ruth Hutson in 1962 and they had two children. There was always lots of water skiing, family picnics, snow skiing and fun to go with the long work hours he spent at the garage. Joe and Henry built up a 1936 Dodge for stock car racing at the Yakima fairgrounds. Cliff Clark financed them and they worked the pit while Al Robinson was the driver. Joe and Henry also worked to help get the Satus Pass ski area started. They blew up stumps with make shift explosives and helped get the rope tows put together and kept them running. They bought a kit for a 17 ft ski boat from Syracuse NY. It was a plywood shell that they put a couple of coats of fiberglass on and a gray marine inboard motor. The first time out they were able to pull 5 skiers out of the water at once and regularly pulled 3. Later, Joe and Andy purchased a bunch of defective rafts at BiMart and patched them up. They formed the Holey Boat club and the families floated the American River. After some close calls they backed off to gentler rivers. While Joe and Henry were in business together for 42 years they were just as proud that they skied together for 55 years. Their last year was when Joe was 80 and Henry was 82.
Joe and Ruth always kept a garden and tended to their yard. After retirement the yard provided Joe with an avenue to keep active. Joe's younger brother (Andy and Sherry VandenBrink) lived next door and they enjoyed one another's company in doing their chores. Nephew Dean Dunn was a God send and always close by to help out. After Andy passed away then Sherry and Joe worked together taking care of the yards. Henry is the last of the siblings still living. Sister in law Sherry lives next door as well.
Joe is also survived by his wife, Ruth VandenBrink and their two children, their spouses, and their seven grandchildren. Brett and Valarie VandenBrink of Bellevue with Luke, Jake, Emily and Molly. Barry and Kris Ehnerd of Port Orchard with Jeremy, Alissa and Anthony. Dad, we love you and we already miss you. Rest in peace. At Joe's request there will be no funeral service.
