Doctor Leaves $2 Million Legacy to CRC Ministries
Dr. Anne F. Oostendorp lived a quiet, low-key life as a physician and dedicated member of LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The daughter of a CRC pastor, Dr. Oostendorp spent much of her career, and a portion of her spare time, finding ways to bring health and healing to young people.
She worked as one of the first pediatric radiologists in West Michigan. At LaGrave, she mentored children and travelled with members of her church to provide ministry to orphans in Romania.
When she died late last year of cancer at the age of 66, Dr. Oostendorp left behind a legacy that included a $2 million gift to the denomination she loved. Half of the money is going to Christian Reformed World Missions and the other half to the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.
It is a gift that will allow the agencies to continue the work of the church for which she felt such loyalty – and especially to extend ministries to young people.
“This was something that she was interested in. She respected what each of the agencies did,” says Dr. Derk Ooostendorp, her brother who worked for many years for CRWM as a missionary and administrator.
His sister never married, he says. She had saved her money and a few years ago decided, with the help of the Barnabas Foundation, a CRC-supported estate-planning organization, to donate the bulk of her estate to the Christian Reformed Church.
“The church was a very significant part of her life,” he says. “She enjoyed being generous to the church.”
She was a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School. As a physician, she had helped to develop the specialty of pediatric radiology and to integrate it into the services offered by DeVos Children’s Hospital, a part of the Spectrum Health system in Grand Rapids.
“She really worked hard. She wanted to make sure that she helped doctors to find (through diagnostic X-rays and other tests) the causes of disease in children,” he says.
In the last years of her life, she suffered from neck pain and then cancer. But she continued to work, as many hours a week as her health allowed, until 2006.
CRCNA officials were delighted by the gift.
“When a gift comes to CRWRC through an estate it is always special. It is a way for someone to give final testimony to what was really important to them,” says Andrew Ryskamp, director of CRWRC.
“A gift this size is a huge blessing and it says much about what was important to Anne, and what she gave up to support Kingdom work. The money from Anne's estate will go into CRWRC's Joseph Fund, which allows the gift to be spread out over 7 years of CRWRC programs.”
Gary Bekker, director of CRWM, notes that the gift “comes out of a family with a deep commitment to Christian education and missions – a legacy of commitment starting with the grandfather, father, and now the children and grandchildren.”
He says CRWM will use the funds in a number of ministries with a specific focus on “equipping Christian teachers, administrators, board members and parents to better provide a Christ-centered education for children and young people.”
