It's quite a year.

My father has passed away.  Below is his obituary, with a link to it as well.  God speed dad. 

John Van Dyke, Husband, Father, Environmental Engineer, Horse Farm Manager, Scout Leader, Tree Farmer and US Air Force Airman, passed away on 10 May, 2025. He was 84. He was born in Detroit Michigan on 15 November 1940. 

 

John was predeceased by his parents, John and Helen also his sister Barbara.

 

John is survived by his wife of 64 years Jean ("Squeek"), his sister Norma and his two sons, John ("Ric") his significate other Rachel,  Michael ("Myke") and his wife Chris.  Also, four grandchildren Andrea, Tom, Elizabeth and Maria.  

 

John and Squeek met in college, and were married on 13 June 1961.  Both their sons were born in South Carolina while John was serving in the US Air Force as a C-130 Mechanic.  He completed his service with the Air Force in the fall of 1965 as an Airman 1st Class (in today’s rank structure, a Senior Airman).

 

John and Squeek ran the Nature's Last Stand horse and tree farm in Salem Township Michigan from the 1970s through 2000, providing horseback riding lessons, summer day camps, and horse shows to hundreds of riders young and old.  The farm was well known for Dressage and 2-day Events featuring Dressage, Cross Country and Stadium jumping.   The farm had approximately 50 horses and ponies at its peak. 

 

John worked as an environmental engineer at Ford Motor Company for 30 years, ensuring as he liked to put it that Ford's factories didn't pollute "too much".  His interest in caring for the environment was a prime motivation in his life, he was active in the Michigan Forest Association where he served as president and other roles. 

 

John was an active supporter of the Boy Scout Troop "P-6" (Detroit Area Council troop 1536) while his sons were members during the 1970s and 1980s.  The troop often camped at the farm; he was also a Scoutmaster.

 

In lieu of flowers, his sons ask that you plant a tree in memory of their father.  A memorial luncheon is being planned for later in 2025. 

https://detroitcremationsociety.com/obituary/john-van-dyke/

Hitting 62

Another year has gone by and I’m 62.  The past year has been a rather interesting one, two rather major events from the past year.

 

 

My middle daughter got married in July 2024 and I was the officiant for the wedding that was really a fun day.  Kind of cool to both walk my daughter down the aisle and to do the wedding ceremony.  It was in Utah and other than it was really hot, it was a terrific day for the wedding.   We all had a great time and it was great to catch up with many folks I hadn’t seen for a while.   It was on the small side which made it more special.  

 

 

Then in December 2024 I was diagnosed with throat cancer, not such a fun day.  For me it was caused by the virus known as HPV (Human Papillomavirus).  It’s a cancer on the rise and fortunately highly treatable, and more importantly curable when caught early.  I was stage 1 and I have about a 95% chance it will be cured.  There is a vaccine for the virus and unfortunately for my age group it wasn’t being given to males.  Now it is and I recommend if you are under 45 make sure you get the vaccine.   

 

 

I started treatments in late December which was Chemotherapy and Radiation.  The treatments ended about 4 weeks ago.  The recovery is quite a thing.   I’m tired all the time.  I’m not sleepy so much as fatigued.  I have a dry mouth, everything tastes bad, and my throat hurts to some degree when swallowing.  Most of my muscles ache or hurt much of the day.  I can tell I’m getting better, it’s just very slow.   Some days a bit better than others. 

 

 

Over all the doctors think I’m doing well and that everything went to plan.  We won’t know for sure if it all worked for at least a few more weeks and really a few months from now with more scans and tests.  

 

 

A huge thanks to my family and friends for helping me thru this.  Without their help and assistance this would have been exponentially worse.