Obituary for James J. Vanderheyden

James Joseph Vanderheyden, age 87, Osseo MN, passed away on October 14th, 2022. Born January 13, 1935 in DePere, WI he was the son of Floyd and Catherine Vanderheyden. Jim entered the Army shortly after high school and was stationed in Germany. His high school sweetheart, Katie Clark, followed him later to Germany and they were married there in 1954 while he was in the service. Their first child was born in Germany, followed by seven more children over the next ten years in the US. Jim graduated from the U of WI, Madison with an electrical engineering degree and four children in 1960. He added four more children through the years, all while working, first on the new color TV at RCA, and then on the Apollo Space Program where he designed steering devices for the Lunar Lander. He later built his own ultralite plane and flew it successfully, but never quite got the landing of THIS device as well as the Lunar Lander????. He spent many hours coaching and leading BPAA programs through the years. He also attended and then organized an annual retreat at Demontreville in Lake Elmo for 47 years, where sons and grandsons often attended. Jim and Katie volunteered in the food shelf at Sharing and Caring Hands for over 20 years each Tuesday. Over the last 17 years Jim and Katie started Tanzania Life Project, a mission partnering with villages in Africa to install clean water wells and improve human rights. Jim was an inspiration to all who knew him and quietly moved mountains through his volunteer efforts. He will be dearly missed and we will stand on his shoulders of faith going forward. Jim is survived by children Mike (Carlyn), Catherine Trescony(Paul), Peter (Nannette), John (Mary), Jean McGinty (Mike), Dan (Julie), Lisa (Lisa Ness), Tom (Debby), siblings Bernice, Bob (Kathy), Mary, Glenn (Teri), Carl, Linda, Todd, 27 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild, as well as countless in-laws, nieces and nephews. Thank you to the loving staff of JA Wedum Hospice for their part in Jim’s journey. Funeral mass at 10:30am Thursday 10/20 at St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park followed by luncheon at the church. Reviewal before service beginning at 9am. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Tanzania Life Project, tanzanialifeproject.org or send checks to 1905 Wayzata Blvd E, Suite 100, Wayzata, MN 55391