John Ouderkirk was a pilot by trade and a genealogist at heart. While he loved traveling the world, he got a special satisfaction from investigating his heritage, his wife said.
“When he discovered no books had been written on the Ouderkirks, I said, ‘Well you best leave it alone, there’s probably a reason,’” Martha Ouderkirk said with a laugh. “But he ended up publishing books and creating a newsletter.”
Henry John Ouderkirk, of Marietta, called John by all, died Jan. 11 at Metropolitan Hospice from complications of Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease. He was 70. A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. His body was cremated and his ashes will be buried at Georgia National Cemetery, in a private family ceremony. Sosebee Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Ouderkirk grew up in Arlington, Va., and was an only child, his wife said. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was in the Naval ROTC program, and studied pre-law and political science. In 1963, he graduated, was commissioned in the Navy and sent to flight school, putting his plans for law school on hold for at least five years. One thing that did go as planned, he married his college sweetheart, the former Martha Fisher.
“He told me he was either going to be a lawyer or an ambassador,” Mrs. Ouderkirk said. “And I thought that was fine because I could live with either one, but that is not what happened.”
As a Naval aviator, Mr. Ouderkirk flew two combat tours in the Vietnam War and achieved the rank of lieutenant commander, his wife said. After his five years of service, Mr. Ouderkirk was recruited as a commercial airline pilot.
“At that time, it was really the golden years of flying,” his wife said. “And he went into the airlines because the Navy pilots were trained so well, and everybody wanted them.”
Mr. Ouderkirk flew for Trans World Airlines for 33 years as a captain, realizing this career change could be a good thing. He returned to school during furlough periods and earned an MBA from Rutgers University and helped people manage real estate investments, when he wasn’t in the air.
But when he wasn’t piloting a plane, much of his energy was focused on family, friends and researching his history. He would often engage his neighbor and friend, Herman Vonhof who hails from Holland, in conversation about their Dutch heritage.
“He really wanted to know about his heritage,” said Mr. Vonhof, who also lives in Marietta. “It was very often the subject of discussion.”
The two even took a trip to Holland and then to Ouderkerk, in the western Netherlands, so Mr. Ouderkirk could further his research. One of their favorite stories from that trip involves a stop to a local store to pick up some Herring.
“We walk in and “Georgia On My Mind” starts playing on the radio,” Mr. Vonhof said. “And every time we talked about this trip over the years, this story came up.”
His genealogy research was how Mr. Ouderkirk went from being an only child to having a very large family, his wife said.
“He always wanted to be part of a big family,” she said. “And there were hundreds of people on his list that received his quarterly Ouderkerk newsletters. And he considered them family.”
Mr. Ouderkirk is also survived by his sons, David Welman Ouderkirk and Dr. John Phillip Ouderkirk; daughter Katherine Michelle Qualey, and seven grandchildren, all of Atlanta.
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