ABOUT PROVIDENCE

Rest Haven Memories

Ways to Share your Memories of Rest Haven

Do you have memories and photos of the early days at Rest Haven or the Holland Home? We'd like to include them in our timeline!

Fill out our online form

Email us your memories and photos today

Are you on Facebook? Share your stories and upload your own photos on Facebook

MAKE A DONATION

History of Rest Haven - Old Memories and New Discoveries - Reconnecting with the past

- A

Select Your
Font Size

A+

Old Memories and New Discoveries

In a series of “History Meetings” with people who remember our early beginnings, we’ve learned new details about familiar events. In researching our broader historical setting, we’ve received confirmation of God’s providential planning.

We would like to share their stories with you.

George Cooper – Living History

As part of our ongoing celebration of our 50th year of ministry, Providence Life Services has been hosting a series of "History Meetings" with key members of the Providence family. At a May 27 meeting with Providence Ambassadors (a group of volunteers who represent Providence in their home churches), one of the honored guests was George Cooper. George was one of the original elders at Second Christian Reformed Church of Engelwood who heard the plea of members who needed Christian options for family members who needed nursing care.

To view the letter George speaks of in this video, visit his story and more on our Blog.

History Meetings – Remembering the Past

Rest Haven History Meetings held throughout April, May and June 2010
Key members of the Providence family were invited to meetings that gave them a chance to look through old photographs and reminisce with each other. Their memories and experience helped us put names to faces and to fill in missing details of a history they experienced firsthand.

A Unique Gift from Clarence Vanderlaan's Son

One other unique gift came in response to the first newsletter we sent. The front page featured a photo of John Dykema and Clarence Vanderlaan laying the cornerstone in a special ceremony. Clarence Vanderlaan was the man who constructed the original Rest Haven building in Palos Heights. His son Burt subscribes to our newsletter, and when he received that issue and saw his father’s photo, he contacted us to let us know he had some old home movie footage of the cornerstone ceremony. Burt kindly converted the film to a DVD and gave us a copy. It was the first time anyone in the office had seen live footage of one of our most well-known ministry milestones.

Download a PDF of the First History Newsletter of 2010

Privacy | Site Map | COMMUNITY LOG IN