Dirk William Jellema (1924-1982) | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Dirk William, son of William Harry and Frances Jellema, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 7, 1924.  He received his grade school education at the Oakdale Christian School.

When his father left Calvin College for a position in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Indiana, Dirk continued his education at the University High School of Bloomington, Indiana, and spent his first year of college at Indiana University.  His sophomore year was spent at Calvin College.  During that year, he enlisted in the Air Corps and then served in the military service from 1943 to 1946.  After the war, he returned to Calvin College to receive his BA in June of 1947.

Graduate work in medieval history began at the University of Wisconsin in the fall of 1947.  He held teaching assistantships in medieval and ancient history and a research fellowship in medieval history.  When he received a Fulbright grant, he went to the Netherlands to study at the University of Groningen where he completed a thesis on “Frisian trade during the dark ages.”  In the fall of 1951, he received a PhD from the University of Wisconsin.

Dirk’s first teaching experience as a graduate was at the University of Oregon (1951-1952).  After a year at the University of West Virginia (1952-1953), he went to Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio (1953-1960).  The school year 1960-1961 was spent at Illinois State Normal University.

Dirk returned to his alma mater, Calvin College, in 1961 to teach in the department of history where he taught for some twenty years.

He remained single.  Dirk and his father often worked together.  Both of them had a continuing interest in religion, philosophy, and history.  There was a constant interchange of ideas and notes.  Dirk William died of a heart attack July 12, 1982, at the age of 59, only two months after his father, Dr. William Harry, passed away, May 16, 1982, at 89 years of age.

Dirk’s interest in history went beyond his preparations for classroom lectures.  Local history prompted him to assist in founding the Grand River Valley Review, a journal, and to serve as a member of the board of the Grand Rapids Historical Society.  He also contributed time and effort and articles to other historical societies.  He maintained an abiding interest in baseball and music – always from the perspective of their historical value.

In the beginning of his career, he researched the history of the Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians.  Toward the end, he became an active student and researcher of the life and works of Abraham Kuyper.  He co-founded and co-edited the Kuyper Newsletter.  The first issue was published January 1980.

Throughout his life, he wrote many articles and book reviews which appeared in both religious and historical magazines and periodicals.

A colleague, Herbert Brinks, described Dirk “as the master of the unexpected insight.  Dirk’s mind was always going in the opposite direction of everyone else.  He would come up with insights that no one else expected.”