Hendrik Kuntz

Hendrik (Hank) Kuntz was born on March 17, 1932 in The Hague, The Netherlands, the 6th of 7 children to George Gerardus Kuntz and Lientje Kuntz-Kleiman. Growing up during the Second World War and the German occupation significantly shaped who he was.

Hank graduated from high school in 1951 and began his (at the time normal) term of compulsory military service in the Dutch army.

He immigrated to Canada in 1953 joining his brother George and sister Lynn in Toronto. He met his wife, Anna Elsje den Engelse at Annette Christian Reformed Church and they were married in 1961.

They were blessed with 4 children (the oldest one in particular being a SPECIAL blessing):

Gerard in 1963, Neil in 1965, Lynn in 1967 and Geoff tagging along behind in 1973.

Hank was predeceased by his wife Els in 2003, daughter Lynn in 2013 and son Neil in 2022.

Hank was an accountant at Kodak for 23 years from 1954 until 1977 and he kept his CGA (Certified General Accountant) up until quite recently, doing some auditing work well into his retirement years.

In 1977 Hank left Kodak to work as a Union Business Agent for CLAC (the Christian Labour Association of Canada) building on many years of volunteer work for that organization including 25 years as President of the board. He retired in 1997.

After retirement, Hank began what he called his second career volunteering as Coordinator for Eastern Canada for the Disability Concerns committee of the Christian Reformed Church. He did this work for a further 20+ years, stepping down only when mobility and age put some limits on him. Even then Hank worked within Holland Christian Homes leading an Always A Parent group for parents of children with disabilities.

Through all of this Hank’s love for the Lord and care for family (both immediate and extended) and friends shone through.