09/29/2026
Some people leave a legacy. Others leave a piece of themselves in the people and places they touched. Don Vander Kooy did both.
It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of Don- longtime President and CEO of Family & Children Services and a truly extraordinary leader, mentor, advocate, and friend.
For 37 years, Don devoted his life to Family & Children Services. He helped guide the organization through decades of change, growth, and transformation. He always kept the same thing at the heart of his leadership: children, individuals, and families who needed someone to care for and believe in them.
But Don’s impact cannot be measured simply in years of service, programs created, buildings built, or milestones achieved. His greatest legacy was the people he encouraged, the lives he touched, and the belief he instilled in others that the work we do here matters.
Even after retiring in 2005, Don never really left Family & Children Services. He remained a supporter, advisor, donor, and mentor. He continued to show up, to encourage us, to ask how things were going, and to remind us why we do what we do.
That kind of love for an organization, and for a community, is rare.
It is difficult to think about the story of Family & Children Services without thinking about Don. So much of the foundation we stand on today was shaped by his vision, his dedication, and his unwavering belief in our mission.
And yet, perhaps his greatest lesson was a simple one: while the ways we serve people may change, our responsibility to care for one another never does. If you take one thing from Don's life, we hope it's that: our responsibility to care for one another is profound and enduring.
We will miss his wisdom. We will miss his encouragement. We will miss his presence.
Our hearts are with Don’s family, friends, colleagues, and the countless people whose lives he touched throughout Kalamazoo and beyond.
Thank you, Don, for believing in Family & Children Services, for believing in our community, and for spending so much of your life helping make both stronger.
