William Durk "Dick" Jaarsma

William Durk “Dick” Jaarsma, age 84, of Murphy, died Sunday, November 17, 2013 at an adult foster home.

A memorial service will be at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 23, 2013 at Bethany Presbyterian Church with Pastor Steve Parker officiating. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.

Remembrances may be made to Josephine Community Libraries, PO Box 1684, Grants Pass, Oregon 97528.

Dick was born October 10, 1929 in Koudum, Friesland, The Netherlands to Gerben & Ietske Jaarsma. In 1949 he graduated from Agriculture College and in 1950 he immigrated to the United States on the first of the Marshall Plan as a student of American Farm methods. He worked on a farm in Illinois before moving to California. He then enlisted in the United States Army and served as an Intelligence/Recon Technician in Germany. On February 18, 1955 he married Shirley Boonstra. For many years he worked for Oregon State Forestry as Assistant Unit Forester in charge of firefighting, retiring in 1988. In 1988 he moved from The Dalles, Oregon to Murphy.

Dick was a member of the Bethany Presbyterian Church congregation.

As a Habitat for Humanity volunteer he was awarded “The Paint Brush” certificate.

Dick was a skilled self-taught handyman who loved the woods, managing his timber land, and believed in leaving things better than he found them. His hobbies included carpentry, fishing, hunting, and forest management.

Dick is survived by his wife, Shirley Jaarsma of Murphy, Oregon; two sons, Neal Charles Jaarsma of Corvallis, Oregon and Gary D. Jaarsma of Sunnyvale, California; a sister, Henny Bakker of Haarlem, The Netherlands; and a granddaughter, Alexandra Whitney Jaarsma of Redwood City, California.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Gerry TenKlooster.