For Immediate Release December 13, 1994 Release #1994-63 For Further Information Contact: Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer Reformed Believers Press Service Voice: (616) 674-8446 FAX: (616) 674-8454 E-Mail: Darrell128@AOL.com PO Box 691, Lawrence, MI 49064-0691 Al Siebring, Contributing Editor Christian Renewal Office: (712) 722-6322 Home: (712) 722-3152 E-Mail: als@iclnet93.iclnet.org 4034 Indian Ave., Orange City, IA 51041 Obituary: Dordt College Founder Rev. B.J. Haan Dead at 77 by Al Siebring c 1994 Christian Renewal Distributed by Reformed Believers Press Service Editor's Note: The text following is copyrighted by Christian Renewal but available for reprint in whole or in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given. Sioux Center, Iowa (December 12, 1994) RBPS - The man most widely credited as the founder of Dordt College has gone to be with his Lord. Rev. Bernard (B.J.) Haan had suffered several strokes in recent years and was admitted to the Sioux Center Hospital with congestive heart failure several times during the months of October and November. He passed away at home on December 8, 1994. Born in 1917 in Sully, Iowa, Haan spent part of his childhood in Orange City, Iowa, before his family moved to Grand Rapids. He was ordained in the Christian Reformed denomination in 1942 after graduating from Calvin Seminary, and briefly served a CRC in Ridott, Illinois in the early 1940's before accepting a call to the First CRC in Sioux Center in 1945. It was an arrival that would not go unnoticed. He loved to tell the story of how, on the day he first moved into the community, the horn on his car got stuck, and he often joked that people said he'd been "blowing his own horn ever since." He would remain in Sioux Center the rest of his life. Haan's stay in Sioux Center was not without its share of controversy. Shortly after his arrival, he spearheaded a movement against plans by the American Legion to open a movie theatre in the community. He reasoned that the American Legion had been supported by churches during World War II as part of society's general backing for the war effort, and that the group's campaign for a theatre was in effect a betrayal of that support. He won his crusade, and there is no theatre in Sioux Center even today. The fight also won him some national recognition; he was featured in a cover story in LIFE magazine, although he would later complain that the article had not done him or his cause proper justice. In the early 1950's, Haan became convinced of the need for a teachers' junior college in the Midwest in response to a growing shortage of qualified teachers in the Christian school movement. There were sceptics, though. Haan would often repeat the story about the man who once told him "Bernie, you'll be dead and buried before a single student is enrolled." In spite of these cynics, and over the objections of many Calvin College alumni in the educational community, Dordt College was established in 1955. The first year's enrollment consisted of 35 students, but the number would balloon during his presidency. By 1978, four years before his retirement, enrollment hit its all-time high with more than 1200 students. That number hasn't been equalled since, and at the time of his death, the student population stood at 1156. In 1967, Haan helped to establish a new venture for the college; a full-service non-commercial Christian FM radio station. For more than 25 years, he was featured in a daily broadcast called "Observations." He would talk about anything that came to mind; letters from supporters, greetings to and from his friends and detractors, denominational issues, and his first love, Dordt College. Because of failing health, the program was discontinued in August 1993, more than 10 years after his retirement as College president. In his final broadcast, just two months after a stormy Synod meeting which had tentatively authorized the ordination of women in the CRC, he appealed for loyalty to the denomination and for conservatives not to give up hope. "The question is, how are we going to face the future? What must we do to maintain our strong position as conservative Christian Reformed people and churches?" asked Haan. "Well, there's a way to do that, I'm convinced. But don't jump off the ship. Don't leave. Don't let people push you out." Calling Haan "a close personal friend," the current president of Dordt College says he'll be sorely missed. Rev. J.B. Hulst says Haan's "...greatest legacy to Dordt College is the concept of scripturally-oriented higher education, which he promoted ardently. We can best honor his memory by continuing to carry out that concept here at Dordt." Survivors include his wife Deborah, six children, 28 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. B.J. Haan was a visionary. He was a promoter. But he was also a deeply committed Christian. I went to visit him in the hospital about a month and a half before his death. He was ailing badly, and the entire family had gathered around the bedside two nights earlier, convinced that the end of was near. He wasn't taking visitors the day I showed up, but his wife Deborah came out to the waiting room to chat with me. "He's doing fine," she assured me wearily, "but he sure was disappointed when he woke up yesterday morning. He was convinced he'd be in Heaven." Memorial Service for B.J. Haan Attracts Hundreds by Al Siebring c 1994 Christian Renewal Distributed by Reformed Believers Press Service Editor's Note: The text following is copyrighted by Christian Renewal but available for reprint in whole or in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given. Sioux Center, Iowa (December 13, 1994) RBPS - More than 600 people crowded into former Dordt College president Rev. B.J. Haan's home church on a wintry Monday afternoon the week after his death to remember Haan's love for his Lord and to look back on his contributions. A private burial service had been held earlier in the day. First CRC pastor Rev. John Witvliet remembered Haan as "one of life's real winners" because of his steadfast faith. "We could say a lot about what B.J. Haan accomplished in his lifetime," Witvliet said, "but in the days before he died, B.J. told me 'John, don't say too much about me - what I did. Say something about the work of Christ. Say something about Jesus.'" Haan had undergone bouts of depression in the months before his death, but Witvliet told the audience that "when he was closest to death's door, he was calm and confident. Safe and secure." Drawing on the last part of Romans 8, Witvliet said Haan had died "convinced that nothing could separate him from the love of God. His only comfort was that he belonged to his faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ." Haan was also eulogized by his successor in the Dordt presidency, Rev. J.B. Hulst. "B.J. Haan proclaimed a God who is sovereign over all of life," Hulst said. "His life calls us to acknowledge Christ not only as our Saviour, but also as Lord. That's a legacy he leaves to the college, to his church, to his community, and to his family." Contact List: Deborah (Mrs. B.J.) Haan 469 - 4th Ave. SE, Sioux Center, IA 51250 * H: (712) 722-0714 Dr. John Hulst, President, Dordt College 498 - 4th Ave. NE, Sioux Center, IA 51250 * O: (712) 722-6000 * H: (712) 722-1554 * F: (712) 722-1198 Rev. John Witvliet, Pastor, First Christian Reformed Church 415 - 4th Ave., Sioux Center, IA 51250 * O: (712) 722-0717 * H: (712) 722-1957 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr94-063.txt .