In Memoriam Norman De Jong Rev. Brian De Jong
There is a stirring scene in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress which reminds me of the life and labors of my father, the Rev. Dr. Norman De Jong. Bunyan describes it as follows:
C
hristian saw a man of a very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, “Set down my name, Sir”: the which when he had done, he saw the man draw his sword, and put an helmet upon his head, and rush toward the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly force: but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given many wounds to those that attempted to keep him out, he cut his way through them all, and pressed forward into the palace, at which there was a pleasant voice heard from those that were within, even of those that walked upon the top of the palace, saying—“Come in, come in; Eternal glory thou shalt win.” So he went in, and was clothed with such garments as they.
Norman De Jong was born on December 5, 1935, at a farmhouse near Rock Valley, Iowa. He was the fourth of six children of Henry and Anna De Jong. Norm had two older sisters, Dorothy and Lori. He had an older brother, Lester, and two younger brothers, Nelson and Russel. The De Jong children attended Christian school for their education. Norman graduated from Western Christian High School in 1953. With a desire to study for the ministry, he attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There he changed his major from pre-seminary to history. He graduated in 1957 with a BA. On October 25, 1957, he married Wilma Vande Guchte of Detroit, Michigan. Wilma was also a student at Calvin, where she earned a degree in nursing, and she became a registered nurse. After the wedding, Norm and Wilma traveled to Iowa City, Iowa. Norman started his master’s degree in education at the University of
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Iowa. He finished that degree in 1958. Upon graduation he took a position as a teacher at the Southwest Minnesota Christian High School in Edgerton, Minnesota. There Norman and Wilma’s first son was born— Gregory Scott De Jong. After two years in Edgerton, Norman became the principal at the Christian school in Manhattan, Montana. He and Wilma had a second son while in Manhattan, Brian Lee De Jong. In the summer of 1963, the family left Montana for a new opportunity in Allendale, Michigan. There Norman served as the principal of the Allendale Christian School. In 1965 Norman, Wilma, and the boys moved to Sioux Center, Iowa, in order for Norman to teach education at Dordt College. During the time in Sioux Center, their only daughter was born—Amy Lynn De Jong. For two years, from 1970 to 1972, the family lived in Iowa City. There Norman pursued his PhD in education from the University of Iowa. He graduated
in 1972, and they returned to Sioux Center. The next two years were tumultuous due to conflicts within the faculty and administration of Dordt College. Norman was in the middle of the dispute and was a leader among the faculty in resisting the promotion of Dooyeweerdianism and Kuyperian sphere sovereignty. In 1974 Norman was among the third of the faculty that was fired by the Dordt College administration. The next stop for the De Jong family was Bellflower, California. Norman served as principal of the Bellflower Christian Elementary School for three years. In 1977 he took a position as the superintendent of the Eastern Christian School system in North Haledon, New Jersey. After two difficult and frustrating years in North Haledon, Norman returned to the college ranks, teaching at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois. He taught education courses at Trinity for the next thirteen years.
