Winton A. Kloosterman
Win Kloosterman of Sanibel passed away on June 10, 2009. He was 90.
Born in Adrian, Mich. on July 1, 1918, his family moved when he was young to Beloit, Wisc. He was a veteran of the Pacific campaign in World War II after which he returned to Wisconsin where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in History at Beloit College. While teaching in Lake Geneva, Wisc., he met and married his wife, Marilyn, in 1950.
After he earned a Master’s from Columbia University, Win and Marilyn moved to Michigan where he acquired a doctorate from Wayne State University and then joined the faculty in Guidance & Counseling at Eastern Michigan University. He and Marilyn lived in Canton, Mich. until they retired and moved to Sanibel in 1986.
Win volunteered at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge for 16 years, from 1990 to 2006.
“He put in over 2,200 hours,” said Park Ranger Jeff Combs “answering the phones sometimes, at the desk assisting visitors with questions most of the time. He was a real asset to us and to our visitors, and will be sorely missed.”
Islander John Carney added, “He ran the Amateur Photo contest for some time, too. When I appeared on Sanibel, he asked me to take it over, but he’d run it for quite awhile before I got here He was also a long-time member of the Current Events Discussion Group at BIG Arts. And he was always a gentleman, Win was.”
He and Marilyn traveled extensively including many trips with the Friendship Force; because of those trips, he and Marilyn have friends around the world.
Win is survived by his wife, Marilyn; three sons – Peter and his wife, Debra of Bloomington, Ind., James and his wife, Patricia, of Austinburg, Ohio, and William of Vancouver, Wash.; a daughter Susan of Jensen Beach, Fla.; eight grandchildren – Dan and his wife, Kari, Jenna, Andrew, Emily, Jeff, David, Ian, and Emma; a sister, Martha Banaghan, of Roseville, Calif.; seven nieces and nephews; and a host of friends.
He was a member of the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ, where a memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 9. Memorial contributions may be made to the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society, the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ or Hope Hospice of Fort Myers.