Klaassen Family Funeral Home

11/15/2025

"Sometimes when we are drowning in our own loss we lash out--anger is momentarily easier to cope with."
- Anne Perry, No Graves as Yet

You may find yourself being impatient or aggressive with close family members or friends. It's like putting on a suit of armor. In a strange way, being angry is easier than loving someone we are suddenly afraid to lose. Recognize this emotion, and make the conscious effort to lead with kindness and compassion.

11/14/2025

Like many people whose lives had formed around a particularly painful incident, she had grown used to providing ellipses around the event of her brother's death to keep conversations comfortable. At some point the subconscious logic of this had spread to the rest of her life so that she rarely talked about things she had been deeply affected by. It wasn't hard to do."
- Mira Jacob, The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing

You may feel like you are operating on autopilot so often that you are forgetting how to really connect. It can become a hard habit to break. Take the time today to nourish one relationship carefully. Reconnecting with others continues to be an important part of your recovery process.

11/13/2025

"Precisely because a living being may die, it is necessary to care for that being so that it may live. Only under conditions in which the loss would matter does the value of the life appear. Thus, grievability is a presupposition for the life that matters."
- Judith Butler, Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable?

Try to treat each relationship and interaction with the care you wish you had brought to the love you lost. We grieve so that we can learn and grow.

11/12/2025

A Celebration of Life to honor Jeffrey "Bud" Steger will take place at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Emmanuel Free Church (17737 W. Spring Lake Rd., Spring Lake, MI, 49456). Please click below to sign Bud's online guestbook.

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11/12/2025

"I'm so sorry," he said, because after Pamela died, he promised himself that if anyone told him the smallest, saddest story, he would answer, I'm so sorry. Meaning, Yes, that happened. You couldn't believe the people who believed that not mentioning sadness was a kind of magic that could stave off the very sadness you didn't mention – as though grief were the opposite of Rumpelstiltskin and materialized only at the sound of its own name."
- Elizabeth McCracken, Thunderstruck & Other Stories

People search for what to say to you now that some time has passed since you suffered your loss. All you may want to hear is "I'm so sorry." While you can't force people to say what you'd like, you can give the gift of saying, "I'm so sorry," to others.

11/11/2025

For all our local Veterans! 🇺🇸 Here is a list of free & discounted food/beverage/entertainment goodies available to you today in the Grand Haven and surrounding area. 🇺🇸

11/11/2025

On this Veteran's Day, Klaassen Family Funeral Home would like to honor the men and women who are presently serving, those who have served, and those we have lost this past year. Thank you to the Charles A. Conklin American Legion Post 28 and VFW Post 2326 Grand Haven for their continued support in providing Military Honors for our Tri-Cities Veterans who have passed away.

Since Veterans Day, 2024, we have had the honor and privilege of serving the families of the following Veterans:

Jacob W. Achterhof
Gary M. Ballast
John J. Bann, Jr.
Roger P. Bergstrom
Richard L. Bethke
David W. Bramer
Arthur R. Brosseit, Jr.
Melvin C. Brown
David P. Bush
Paul J. Clouse
Bill Coats, Sr.
Richard A. Dempsey
Clifford E. Drent
Arthur L. Eding
John J. Ennenga
James H. Fett
David E. Harden
Alan K. Henderson
Raymond G. Kuiper
Ronald J. Maka
Robert P. McNergney
Thomas R. Murawsky
Edwin A. Oom
Robert H. P***n
Bruce M. Pelton
Marvin D. Perry
Jack E. Petersen
Donald W. Pfeiffer
Gregg B. Purvis
James D. Quackenbush
Raymond H. Ribbink
James R. Sandwick
Howard D. Smith
James D. Solon
Donald J. Tysman
Louis C. VanRaalte
Gerald L. VerBerkmoes
John P. von Albade
Louis G. Wallinga
Lavern G. Wheaton
John A. Whipple
Raymond E. Wiersema, Jr.
Ronald H. Yost

11/10/2025

"There's always a last time. If you could remember every last time, you'd never stop grieving."
- Jonathan Tropper, This is Where I Leave You

You may be spending a lot of time feeling guilty trying to remember the last time you saw your loved one or told them how you felt. It's time to free yourself of that burden. Simply remember the love that was there. Those details do not augment or diminish that special relationship.

11/09/2025

"Somehow, grief had seemed easier to bear when the skies were dark and a cold wind kept cats and prey inside their nests."
- Erin Hunter, Bramblestar's Storm

Eventually you will love sunny days again. Don't push yourself. Like so many other phases of grief, your return to the sunshine will come when you are ready.

11/08/2025

"All you need is one safe anchor to keep you grounded when the rest of your life spins out of control"
- Katie Kacvinsky

Think of one activity that you do that makes you feel grounded. It should be something that is low stress and that doesn't require you to make any decisions. Take 20 minutes for yourself to give your mind a rest from the anxiety of grief.

11/07/2025

"For each person I lost I found a new layer of grief to cover myself with, and each time I tried to bring something of their essence into my own being - be it unconditional love, kindness and piety."
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Like your relationships in life, each grieving period is unique. Thinking that you know how your grief for someone will be is like assuming you know how each friendship or each great love will be.

You learned a lot about life and about yourself when you first lost someone close to you. If this is your first loss, you are learning those things now. While they change you and give you the gift of empathy as you reconnect with others, they do not adequately prepare you to grieve again.

Don't be hard on yourself because this time is no easier. Know that this is the case for everyone. The one true gift that having grieved before gives you is the knowledge that it will ease with time.

11/06/2025

For those unable to attend the Memorial Service for Paul Clouse today (11/6/25), it will be live-streamed from United Methodist Church of the Dunes beginning at 2:00 p.m. Please click here to view:

United Methodist Church of the Dunes is a family of faith who seeks to grow in God’s grace and love, challenges and equips all members to be faithful disciples, to share the Good News and demonstrate and reflect the love of God. Join us for worship at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings at 717 Sheldon Ro...