Karen (Snuttjer) Schakel, age 67, of Holland died Wednesday, December 9, 2009, at Holland Hospital.
Karen served as office manager and editorial assistant of The Van Raalte Institute at Hope College.
Her husband Peter is the The Peter C. and Emajean Cook Professor of English at Hope College.
She was born the daughter of Frank and Grace (Jansen) Snuttjer in George, Iowa, August 27, 1942. She was a graduate of Central College in Pella, Iowa, in 1964.
She worked as a long-time director of Christian education of Third Reformed Church in Holland, Mich.
She was a former member of Third Reformed Church of Holland and currently a member of All Saints' Episcopal Church of Saugatuck.
She was preceded in death by grandson Alex Hoffman in 1998, and brother-in-law Robert Block.
Her family includes: husband of 45 years Peter Schakel; daughter Jennifer and Timothy Hoffman of Holland; son Jonathan Schakel and Megan Sharp of Charlottesville, Virginia; four grandchildren (Jonathan, Thomas, Michael, and Paul); mother Grace Snuttjer; sisters Lavina Block, Lois and Bruce Lombard, Mary and Fred Schaa, brother David and Kathi Snuttjer; sisters-in-law Martha and James Hayward, Mary and Charles Benson; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Services will be 11 a.m. Friday, December 18, 2009, at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Saugatuck, Mich.
Visitation will be 2-4 and 7-9 p.m., Thursday, December 17, 2009, at The Mulder Chapel Dykstra Life Story Funeral Home, 188 West 32nd Street, Holland, Mich.
Memorials may be made to the All Saints' Episcopal Church of Saugatuck or Hope College.