Christianus "Chris" Franciscus Verkuylen, age 87, of Kimberly passed away April 25, 2012 at home surrounded by his family after an extended battle with Alzheimer's Disease. Chris was born March 13, 1925 in Nistelrode, Netherlands, to Albertus and Adriana (Timmers) Verkuylen. Chris graduated from Utrecht Technical College as a Master Electrician in 1955. The last day of school was the day after his marriage to Johanna Josephina Steenbakkers on June 2, 1955, in Eerde, Netherlands. They were married for 56 years. On February 24, 1956, Chris and his new bride immigrated to the United States of America.

Four days after arriving in the U.S.A. he was employed by Kimberly Clark Field Service. He was a successful business man starting several area businesses including; Valley Electric, Twin City T.V. and Appliance, Fox Valley Electric and Energy Management Systems. He succeeded in his wish to teach his boys the electrical trade.
Preceded in death were his parents; son Francis; grandson Braden Molenkamp; in-laws; Hendrikus and Johanna (Vissers) Steenbakkers; his brothers William, Martin (Ann) and Johan (Tini); and sisters Maria Van Boxtel, Ann Verkuylen, Hendrika Van Der Linden and Alberta Vanden Broek.

Survived by his death are his wife Johanna (Steenbakkers); sister Johanna Van den Heuvel of The Netherlands; brother and sister-in-law: Cor (Annie) Steenbakkers and Riek Steenbakkers, both of The Netherlands; children: Albert (Lori) Verkuylen of Hortonville; Johanna Molenkamp of Little Chute; Diane Verkuylen (Steve Meitner) of Madison; Eric (Debbie) Verkuylen of Menasha; Carla (Scott) Szatkowski of Bloomingdale, IL; Don Verkuylen of Fremont; and Michael Verkuylen of Greenville; grandchildren: Leah, Logan, Chris, Michael, Bryant, Parker, Lucas, Cory (Sheena), Shane, Scott, Hanna, Stanley, Hailey, Emma, and Libby; and great-grandchildren: Jack, Bailen and Ethan. He is further survived by many special nieces and nephews in Holland and the U.S.; Al (Yvonne) Verkuylen, Adriana (Mark) Jamison, Paula Reigel, Trudy (Sean) Buckner, JoAnn Honeycutt, Gerard (Brenda) Verkuylen and great nieces and nephews.

Chris and Johanna resided in Appleton for 34 years, Sherwood for 12 years and Kimberly for 12 years. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus #607. Chris was a World War II underground freedom fighter while in the Netherlands. He was also an active parishioner at St. Bernadette, Sacred Heart and St. John Nepomucene. Chris especially enjoyed traveling, golf, billiards, walking and bowling, picnics with his family, and was an avid Packer fan; until he forgot who they were!

Visitation will be held Wednesday May 2, 2012 at ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE CATHOLIC CHURCH (323 S. Pine St. Little Chute) from 2:30 p.m. until the Mass at 5:00 p.m. The Rev. James Hablewitz will officiate. Committal St. Joseph Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established to support the many organizations that supported our family.

Devoted servant of the Lord, leader, teacher, devoted father and brother, loving husband, social butterfly and good friend to many. His unconditional love, wise counsel, unwavering dedication and faith in us will be sorely missed. He was a very special man whom we will not forget.

A special thanks for the exceptional care given by; St. Paul Hospice; Sandy, Julie and Paul, St. Paul Elder care nursing staff, and Becky, Director at Club Gabrielle.