Obituary of Gottfried Oosterwal

Gottfried Oosterwal, 85, of Berrien Springs, passed away on Monday, November 9, 2015 at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo. He was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands to the late Hillebrand and Margarethe T. (Obrikat) Oosterwal. Dr. Oosterwal's formative years were spent in Rotterdam during World War II. He had a passion for people and studied theology, history, and anthropology at Cambridge and University of Utrecht receiving his doctorate in 1956. In October 1957, he married Emilie Tilstra; to this union of 41 years, three children were born. They were missionaries to Papua New Guinea and he became known as 'The missionary's missionary'. After teaching at Philippine Union College, he moved to the United States to teach anthropology and missions at Andrews University in 1968. With his interest in anthropology and passion for missions he cofounded the Missions Institute to prepare outgoing missionaries for their missions abroad. Later in life he founded the Center for Intercultural Relations where he continued his passion for bringing people together and raising awareness for cultural diversity. He most recently focused on medical care and treatment of the whole person recognizing that cultures have different expectations and needs for healing. He was the Author as well as subject of many books and articles. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Siegfried Oosterwal (1930), and a sister, Kriemhild "Hilde" Hantelmann (1982). Gottfried was survived by his daughter, Verona Valentine of Roselle, Illinois, two sons, Dantar (Kathey) Oosterwal of Kalamazoo, Michigan and Erik (Susan) Oosterwal of Dowagiac, five grandchildren; Erik-Philip Oosterwal of Dowagiac, Matthew Oosterwal of Dowagiac, Audrey Oosterwal of Kalamazoo, David Valentine of Roselle, Illinois and Eva Oosterwal of Kalamazoo, a brother, Siegfried "Flip" (Margreet) Oosterwal of Bergen, Netherlands and a sister, Elfriede Oosterwal of Goes, Netherlands. A time of visitation will be held on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at Brown Funeral Home in Niles from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University, Berrien Springs, at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 15, 2015. A private burial will be held on Monday. In keeping with Dr. Oosterwal's passion for missions, a memorial fund is currently being established and envelopes will be available at Brown Funeral Home.