Boudewijn DeKorne, a Dutch immigrant living in Grand Rapids, bought an old farmhouse near Glen Lake in 1924 as a getaway for his wife Kate and 11 children. According to family lore, he remarked, “I’m going to give this to my family. Maybe it’ll keep the family together.”
Boudewijn passed away just five years later, but his dream stayed alive. Gathering near the old farmhouse around Memorial Day became a DeKorne family tradition, and this year, Boudewijn and Kate’s descendants will celebrate the 100th anniversary of getting together in Glen Arbor.
“The tradition really started with my grandfather and his 10 siblings,” Jack DeKorne said. “They were very close as siblings and would often get together at the lake. And later, they built their own cottages along the south shore. … They would come up here on the weekends during the summer, go to church together, and afterwards they would have coffee parties.”
