Jan Willem de Graaf

Jan Willem de Graaf of Dingmans Ferry, Pa., passed away at home on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. He was 98.

Son of the late Hendrik and Lydia (Wap) de Graaf, Jan was born on April 30, 1931, in the Netherlands East Indies (Java, Indonesia). He came to the United States in 1944 and became a citizen in 1953.

Jan graduated from the Citadel in South Carolina in 1955, one week before marrying his high school sweetheart, Laura (DePue) de Graaf. He served in the U.S. Air Force for more than 21 years as a pilot. After retirement, he taught Aircraft maintenance and gave flight instruction at Sacramento City College in Sacramento, California.

He and Laura moved to Dingmans Ferry in 1986. Jan was a member of the Tilghman-Angle-Smith American Legion Post 851, Dingmans Ferry, and a member of the Minisink Reformed Church, Montague, N.J. Jan leaves behind his wife of 65 years, Laura, and their children, John, Peter and his wife, Betsy, Robert and his wife, Pam, and Laura Pokrzywa and her husband, Michael; grandchildren, Ashley, Carl, Alan, Michael, Emily, Matthew, Rebekah, Maxwell, and Robert; and six great-grandchildren with a seventh on the way.

The family would like to thank the outstanding caregivers from Visiting Angels and Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice for their kind, loving care. Final interment will be at the Delaware Cemetery and will be private.

Donations may be made in remembrance of Jan to Minisink Reformed Church, PO Box 1787, Montague, NJ 07827.

Arrangements were made by Stroyan Funeral Home, Milford, Pa.