A Celebration of Life will be held for Lynn Vermeulen at the Country Club of Jackson on Wednesday, September 18, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm. This will follow a private funeral service. Please scroll down for how Clark Lakers can offer a skiers salute in his honor.
Lynn passed away at 3:48 pm on September 5th. As noted in the previous article, he had been under hospice care. In his last days, he told those around him that he intended to make it to his 80th birthday. He succeeded.
Though his athleticism went well beyond water skiing, he certainly became a hero to those who watched him take endless practice passes through the slalom course, arrive home form tournaments with an armful of heavy hardware, and conduct Pine Riders Water Ski Club meetings. Below Lynn is pictured at a Pine Riders meeting.
Left to right: Phil Curtis, Buzz Belcher, and Lynn Vermeulen
Buzz Belcher, along with many others at Clark Lake, were big fans. At one point, Buzz convinced his father to make arrangements to go the Vermeulen home to see Lynn. Buzz and Lynn are pictured in front of Lynn’s trophy cabinet.
Click here to read how Lynn asked Buzz to put in the slalom course for a Cit Pat tournament at Clark Lake, how 10-year old Buzz convinced Lynn to let him take the tournament twin-rig to do it, and how Buzz faced a moment of Clark Lake infamy while doing so.
An inductee of the Michigan Water Ski Hall of Fame, Lynn mentored other skiers, including his sister, Kay. Kay was inducted also, but posthumously. At the time of her life celebration in 2015, Clark Lakers recognized her with a skiers salute to her memory.
Clark Lakers may also wish to do the same for Lynn. Seeing waterskies attached to mailboxes through Clark Lake neighborhoods would be a special tribute to someone who meant so much to this community.
Photo below is from Kay’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Left to right: Linda Lighthall (Kay and Lynn’s sister), Ashley Stovall (Kay’s daughter), Austin Nichols (Kay’s son), Lynn, and David Nichols whom Kay married.
Another chapter in Lynn Vermeulen’s Clark Lake story was Fleet 58. He served as Commodore of the largest Hobie fleet of all inland lakes in the United States during the 1970s and 80s. In July 2014, the Clark Lake Spirit Foundation held a Fleet 58 Reunion and Regatta. Lynn, and daughter, Maggie, walked away with a trophy.
2nd Place, 18-ft–Lynn, Maggie Vermeulen
Winning awards was not unusual in Lynn’s life. In addition to his enormous presence on the national and international waterski stage, he distinguished himself as an All-American swimmer and captain of the swim team at Jackson High. He later coached the Jackson Orca Swim Team at the YMCA, supporting Maggie’s passion for the sport. He also became a national paddleball champion.
Lynn Vermeulen was all about the outdoors as hunter and fisherman. Mike McKay recalls one of the greatest expeditions was bow-hunting bear in Saskatchewan. This was no small affair. Lynn and Mike flew in, rented a car, drove four hours to Prince Albert, boarded an 18-foot fishing boat, traveled through five lakes, sailed up several rivers, found a tree stand and were dropped off by the guides with a promise to pick them up after dark. With his bow and arrow, Lynn ended up shooting a bear, but this did not disable it. His arrow hit the buttocks, and there it stayed. Not ready to give up, Lynn and Mike tried tracking the bear on hands and knees through the brush. But no luck. Another group of hunters arrived later and found the same bear, the one with Lynn’s arrow in its rear. This bunch managed to bring down the bear. When it was skinned, they found Lynn’s broadhead. Quite amazingly, this group was also from Jackson. When they returned, they gave Mike the broadhead, which he then presented to Lynn. That arrow was Lynn’s only trophy for this hunt.
Below, an example of a more successful expedition. Mike McKay and Lynn appear happy with the results.
Fishing expeditions occurred in many locations. Not surprisingly, they could also happened close to home. Click here to read about one of them.
Foundational to Lynn’s career was earning a degree in economics from Michigan State. He went on to lead Vermeulen Furniture as its president for 45 years. Along the way, he opened La-Z-Boy showrooms in Portage and Lansing. Today, Lynn’s son, Nate, operates the businesses.
Lynn’s parents were Franklin and Helen Vermeulen. Lynn’s wife, Patty Bisbee, passed way in 2022. Lynn is survived by his two children, Nate Vermeulen (Leslie) of Jackson, MI, and Maggie Bissett (Brett) of Hickory Corners, MI; grandchildren Reese and Lincoln Vermeulen, Lyla, Rowdy, and Colt Bissett; his sister, Linda Lighthall (Bill) of Ann Arbor, MI; Patty Bisbee Vermeulen’s extended family and the employees he treated as family.
Lynn’s obituary notes memorial contributions are appreciated to the YMCA of Jackson or the Clark Lake Spirit Foundation.
Many comments on Lynn’s life have been received. You can read them by going to the original story on this website.
On the day of his passing, neighbors in the cove lowered flags to half-mast and lit luminaries on loan from Raft-O-Rama.
Thanks for rekindling memories of Lynn in younger days, and for filling us in on his many exploits later on in life. A truly accomplished, well-rounded, beloved gentleman and Clark Laker
Good picture of Phil Curtis & Lynn. Both were so instrumental in organizing Clark Lake Pine Riders until the torch was passed to Gary Krupa. Phil was a year behind Lynn (Class of ’62) but was a swimmer with Lynn for Coach Cooley in that little 6 lane 25 meter pool @ JHS. Lynn continued to IMPRESS still practicing his trix in front of my parents well over 60.
There was a photo of Lynn and Phil standing in the background in the front of the Curtis’ cottage during the formation of the Pine Riders Ski Club, and the honoring of Susie Brookhart as a winner in the very first Citizens Patriot Ski Derby in 1957. It is displayed on Page 119 of a book written by Ted J. Ligibel for the Clark Lake Historical Preservation Committee. It was humbling to know that Lynn kept the club active after I left in 1958 to ski at Cypress Gardens. The original Pine Rider Ski Club patch is still on display in the old Cypress Gardens Clubhouse Archives today.