Grand Rapids MI

Excerpt:

Our next stop was Grand Rapids MI. I had a strong desire to enter the ministry as a vocation. Kathee and I prayed about this for almost a year. We considered both Grace Theological Seminary (Winona Lake, IN) and Grand Rapids Baptist. We visited both schools and thought Grand Rapids would be best for us. We bought a house on Paris Avenue. Because housing was much less expensive in Michigan than Pittsburgh we were able to buy a very nice house for much less than the house we sold in Pittsburgh.

We moved Grand Rapids in August 1978. Kathee was rehired by IBM as an engineer. She had been working for Mellon Bank while in Pittsburgh.

Strangely enough and without prior consultation with my Mother, the house we bought was about 2 blocks away and on the same street as where my Mother had rented a room during World War II. Weird hugh! (She had been living in Alto Michigan but had to rent a room in Grand Rapids while she worked for the draft board.)

This house (it's a little hard to see) was built in 1934 by a prominent physician. It had 4 bedrooms upstairs and a living room, dining room, and a family room on the main level. Additionally it had a full apartment in the basement. I rented this out to seminarians for the two years we lived here.

We would move back to this neighborhood!

I served as a deacon and youth director at Good News Baptist while we lived here.