Jan Kortenhoeven

Jan Kortenhoeven, 91, passed away peacefully on February 27, 2022, at Summit Health Care Regional Hospital in Show Low, Arizona. He was born in Den Burg (Texel), Holland, the son of Nicolaas (Niek) Kortenhoeven and Luise Marie Brucher. Jan grew up on the island of Texel, leaving Holland in July 1955 to immigrate to the United States, followed closely after by his loving wife, Frederique (‘’Flippie’’) Antoinette Kortenhoeven, who he married on November 10, 1956. Jan proudly became a citizen of the United States in March 1959, followed shortly after by Frederique, in 1960. Jan lost his wife of 53 years on July 17, 2010. Jan was stoic, independent with a fierce love for his country, heritage, and family, both here and in Holland. For him, it was not enough to become a citizen of the United States, he also served in the U.S. Air Force for over 26 years, including tours in Vietnam which left him with injuries, both inside and out, that he carried for a lifetime. After his retirement from the U.S. Air Force in 1981, Jan and Frederique moved to Lakeside, Arizona where he built his forever home, and where they lived out their days together. For the next four decades, Jan took care of his wife, tended his beautiful vegetable gardens, and tinkered daily in his workshop where his lifetime love of building wooden children’s toys blossomed. Most locals knew Jan as the resident “MacGyver” who could make something out of nothing, and fix anything and everything with a smile and a whistle. Jan leaves behind three children, Nicolaas Rene’ (Jenny Morris) Kortenhoeven of Seaford, Virginia, Eric Jan (Debra) Kortenhoeven of Baldwinville, Massachusetts, and a daughter, Luise Lotte Kortenhoeven of Lakeside, Arizona. He also leaves behind five grandchildren, Eric William Kortenhoeven, Nicolaas Jan Kortenhoeven, Alex Nicole Kortenhoeven, Leon (Daniel) Carelli and Samantha Louise Kortenhoeven, and two great-grandchildren; Holland Kortenhoeven and Story Stevens-Williamson, as well as a host of siblings, nieces and nephews in both the United States and Holland who will miss him dearly.