Remembering Dad: Gary Vermeer’s Daughter Recalls His Life and Legacy

When Mary Andringa first told me she wanted to write a book about her father, Gary, I thought, That’s already been done.

Turns out, I was wrong.

For more than a year, Donna Biddle and I had researched the lives and legacies of Gary and Matilda. We told Gary’s story as a pair of journalists. Our book, In Search of a Better Way–which was published in 2008 for Vermeer Corporation’s sixtieth anniversary–chronicled the couple’s remarkable history.

Now Mary, in warm and vivid narrative, tells of his life as only a daughter can do. And she not only uses her own memories. She has also unearthed new anecdotes from relatives, friends, and business associates.

So, ten years later–in the year in which Gary Vermeer would have turned 100–I am pleased that a daughter’s voice and memories are adding richness to the ongoing legacy of Gary and Matilda Vermeer with the publication of Remembering Dad.

Carol Van Klompenburg