Obituaries
GVSU Mourns Supporter Helen DeVos
October 20, 2017
Helen DeVos, a dear friend of Grand Valley State University, has passed away.
Throughout her lifetime, Helen provided exceptional leadership and service to Grand Valley. She was passionate about education and a lifelong learner herself. Her leadership and support played a major role in the creation of the Richard M. DeVos Center, the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, and the L. William Seidman Building, as well as many other campaigns and projects.
GVSU honored Helen with the naming of the Helen DeVos Presidential Scholarship, an award granted to students who show promise in music and the arts. The university also granted her an honorary Doctor of Arts degree in 2010. She was recognized as a Grand Steward of the university in 2011, and was inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame with an Enrichment Award in 2014.
As a special tribute to Helen and her support for GVSU, the carillon towers will have a blue “Laker Light’ that will last through the funeral and perhaps a few days afterwards. The Laker Light will shine in honor of Helen and will allow students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members to remember her in their own personal ways.
The GVSU flag will be at half-staff for the next two weeks to honor Helen.
Watch the Grand Valley website for more details on the memorial and funeral arrangements as they become available. Our thoughts and prayers are with the DeVos family at this time.
(Written by Thomas J. Haas)