Patrick J. Vanderveen

Patrick Joseph Oliver VanderVeen (78) passed away peacefully on January 12, 2024 with his family lovingly by his side.

Patrick was born in Jackson, Michigan on March 17, 1945, to Clinton Henry VanderVeen and Alice Tobin VanderVeen, and grew up there with his brother, Stephen Henry VanderVeen. He graduated from St. John's High School in 1963, and then went on to earn a dual Bachelor of Arts (1967) and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (1969) from the University of Notre Dame, in Notre Dame, Indiana, and a Master's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1970).

Patrick married the love of his life, Mary Ann Seydel VanderVeen, on August 1, 1970 in the garden of the Women's League at the University of Michigan. He and Mary Ann had four incredible children and adopted many cats and dogs over the years.

He spent his career working as an engineer specializing in research and development for Chrysler Corporation, Bethlehem Steel, Nelson Taylor, Dalloz Safety, and Terumo Medical, before retiring in 2010.

Patrick had a wry, deadpan wit and loved to good-naturedly rib his children with ironic quips and corny one-liners. He was an avid hiker, swimmer, meditator, and reader, who loved to travel and spend time with his family. Some of his favorite destinations included Reykjavik, Iceland; Bracebridge, Ontario; Cape Ann, Massachusetts; and Yr Hen Fynydd, Wales. He also loved woodworking and spent many hours building furniture in his studio.

A lifelong learner, Patrick had the answer to most things (which is 42). His family will lovingly remember and deeply miss their conversations about history, science, religion, politics, music, movies, and books.

Above all, Patrick was a man of love and service. He felt the essence of life was to give and receive love freely. He was immensely generous and spent much of his time considering the well-being of others. Over the decades, Patrick devoted his time to helping others in need through his church and other community initiatives. He provided spiritual guidance as a volunteer chaplain at Reading Hospital for five years, and more recently, he served the Alcoholics Anonymous and Common Ground communities. Patrick's generosity and compassion knew no bounds; he lived to lift up those around him.

Patrick is survived by his beautiful wife of 53 years, Mary Ann; brother, Stephen; four children: Emily Sara VanderVeen, Jessica Abby VanderVeen, Zachary Jordan VanderVeen, Joshua Simon VanderVeen; sons-in-law, Andri Sigurdsson and Thomas George Whitehouse Rogers; daughter-in-law Rachel Rose Bankes; and granddaughters Ruby Alma Andradottir and Elly Ros Andradottir.

A Celebration of Patrick's Life will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Lundin Hall, Atonement Lutheran Church, 5 Wyomissing Blvd, Wyomissing, PA,

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of Patrick's favorite programs such as Common Ground, Helping Harvest, or Opportunity House.

https://commongroundhelps.org/

https://helpingharvest.org/

https://opphouse.org/

Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc is honored to serve the VanderVeen family.