Dr. David Leo VerLee

Dr. David VerLee, age 76, of Holland, Michigan died peacefully at home on June 3, 2014 from metastatic skin cancer. He was born in Mansfield, OH to Leo and Dagmar VerLee on October 1, 1937. At the age of 6 weeks he moved with his parents to Grand Rapids where he attended Alger and Burton schools and graduated from South High. He went on to the University of Michigan for undergrad and medical school. After an internship at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, he then completed an ophthalmology residency at the University of Michigan and went on to do two years of medical research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He and his family moved back to Michigan where he practiced ophthalmology in Flint for 25 years. In 1989 he moved back to Western Michigan in Holland where he practiced for several more years before retiring in 1999. David was a Rotarian for many years, both in Flint and in Holland, MI. He and his family are long-time members of Christ Memorial Church in Holland where he served as an elder. David was involved with many philanthropic organizations and charitable causes and contributed in many roles to the Kellogg Eye Center and the University of Michigan medical school. He was preceded in death by his former wife Gwendolyn (Lawson) who died in 1998. David is survived by his wife of 33 years, Jayne (Anderson) VerLee, and children Phillip and Jocelyn (Koning) VerLee, Amy and Rick Elias, DDS (children Jake, Lucas and Peter), Peter and Kristal (Glenn) VerLee (children Brendan and Ava), and Jon and Kerrie (Notman) VerLee (children Ella, Easton, and Emma). He is also survived by his younger brother Thomas VerLee, MD, and Tom's wife, Lois (VanDerSchie) and family in Portland, ME. Burial will take place at Pilgrim Home Cemetery following a private family service. David's "Celebration of Life" service will take place at 2:00pm on July 5, 2014 at Christ Memorial Church, 595 Graafschap Rd., Holland, with visitation prior to the service from 12:30pm-2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Hospice of Holland or Autism Support of Kent County. Arrangements are by the Langeland-Sterenberg Funeral Home, 315 E 16th St., Holland. Please feel free to sign an online guestbook or share a memory at www.langelandsterenberg.com.

Tributes

Dr. David Leo VerLee

October 1, 1937 - June 3, 2014