Robert Serum

Robert Serum, 84, of Hudsonville, died of heart failure on Thursday morning, August 6, 2026. Robert was born in Hudsonville, MI, to Herbert and Kathleen Serum. He graduated from Hudsonville High School and continued his education at Hope College, later earning his PhD in English Literature at the University of Alabama. He saw the world change in unimaginable ways --- bearing witness to more than a third of our country’s history --- and he saw it through just one working eye. He lost his eye during a childhood accident. If he were here, he would tell you his greatest accomplishment was marrying his wife, Camella Karsten, on June 9, 1967. They were married for 59 years. To those who knew him, he was many things: a football teammate at Hudsonville, a high school teacher, an English professor, dean of the business school, a friend from the community club, a donor, a sailor, your vice president of academics or your head of international programs at Northwood University. He was many things to many people, which makes it all the more impressive that he was, to us, above all of that, a very good husband and father. Robert became a father later in life, welcoming his son at age 44 and his daughter a few years later. Because of that, he was never certain he would get to see them grow up, writing both of his children letters when they were babies to open in the event he didn’t make it to their adulthood. The message inside is one they will carry for the rest of their lives: it is never too late to start over, to change course, to dream something new. As a lifelong educator, he leaves a legacy to many, but to us he leaves this: the tendency to stay up past bedtime with a good novel, the belief that laughter heals, the willingness to admit mistakes and change, a belief that the good we do matters, an unusual preoccupation with the weather, the love of a good root beer float, the importance of checking on your friends, and his four grandsons, including one named in his honor. He had friends around the world. He was a devoted Alabama football fan and printed out the college football schedule every weekend. He was interested in the world and opened himself to new ideas daily. He was a tremendous example of someone who lived his faith, motivated by love instead of fear. A heart that did so much for so many for so long was bound to fail eventually. He simply gave all he had to all of us. And what is a life well lived if not that? There was nothing left for us to say at the end because we were not a family to leave things unsaid. He loved us and we loved him and we always knew it. In the end, we were together, and that was enough. He was preceded in death by his sister, Nancy Phillips. In addition to his wife, Camella, he is survived and forever loved by his children Andrew (Samantha) Serum and Robyn (John) Hammontree, four grandsons: Preston, Herbie, Jack and Robert “Walt,” his siblings Jim (Marilyn) Serum and Kathy Serum, and many extended family members. It is a gift to have had this time with him and we are lucky to have so much to grieve.

Tributes

Robert Serum

September 6, 1941 - August 6, 2026