Zeeland mourns passing of former councilman, drain commissioner, Paul Geerlings

ZEELAND — The Ottawa County community is honoring the legacy of former Zeeland City Councilman and Ottawa County Drain Commissioner Paul Geerlings, who died June 15. He was 82.

“He was a man of integrity; he was honest about his job," explained Joe Bush, current Ottawa County Water Resources Commissioner — the current title for the drain commissioner role.

Geerlings was killed June 15 in an automobile crash after his vehicle rear-ended a semitruck that had stopped for traffic congestion on Interstate 196 in Saugatuck Township, according to the Zeeland Record.

Bush said he first met Geerlings several years ago, and his first impression was that Geerlings  was “sincere, he took his career very seriously.” 

Born and raised in Zeeland, Geerlings was the 10th of 12 children. Surrounded by machinery on the farm where he grew up, he learned how to repair several types of devices and equipment, working at his brother-in-law's auto shop, driving trucks and working in auto and parts sales for a living. 

While serving in Vietnam as a U.S. Navy Seabee, Geerlings helped oversee construction and managing logistics, according to his obituary. Eventually returning in 1970, Geerlings remained in the reserves until 1974.  

After working a variety of careers — owning and operating the service station in Bentheim, then owning and operating Doc’s Sales, before driving a semitruck for Burke Energy and Zeeland Farm Services, then as a dispatcher and operations manager at TLC — Geerlings was elected as the Ottawa County drain commissioner in 2000, and served until 2012.

The first time he ran for office, he won a four-way race in the Republican primary, capturing 37.8 percent of the more than 25,000 votes cast and finishing nearly 1,500 votes ahead of his nearest competitor, the Zeeland Record reported. He then ran unopposed in the November general election that year.

He took great pride in the work, Bush said.

“He loved that job, he always said: ‘This is my favorite gig.'” 

Thanks to his past work experience, Bush said Geerlings was well-rounded and had a lot of experience that aided his work as drain commissioner. Geerlings retired from the role in 2012.

“He always had this desire to build relationships,” Bush said. “He would go meet people, just talk to people and just be involved; he loved doing that.” 

Geerlings also was proud to serve his country, walking in the annual Zeeland Memorial Day parade in his old uniform. 

“All those years he could still fit in it,” Bush said, “and he loved walking in the parade.” 

“Go back 15 years and he’d joke, ‘Yeah, I still fit in my uniform, Joe.' He was a jokester.” 

A deeply patriotic and faithful Christian, as recently as early June, Geerlings participated in the Elks Lodge Flag Day ceremony — in uniform, of course. 

After retirement from the county, Geerlings didn’t sit idle. He put his love of driving to use, working as a freelance driver for Janssen Farms Hatchery, De Nooyer Chevrolet and Wyrick Auto.

He was known to often say: “You want to go for a drive?” 

Travel, too, was important to Geerlings, who was proud to have traveled to all 50 states in his lifetime, with his favorite places being the hills of Colorado and Montana and the forests of Michigan, where he spent weeks hunting and roaming the wild. 

His pride and joy, however, were his family.

Geerlings is survived by his wife, Jan, two children, three grandchildren and several extended family members.

“He was proud of his wife and his family,” Bush said. “He always talked about traveling to his kids; he always would say, I can't wait to go see my kids.”

Geerlings was preceded in death by his parents and nine of his siblings.

A memorial visitation will take place at 10 a.m.-noon on Saturday, June 27, at Faith Reformed Church Zeeland, 220 W. Central Ave., Zeeland. A funeral will follow from noon to 1 p.m., with lunch afterward.

— Mallory Burt is a reporter for the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.