Corwin "Cory" VanBruggen

Corwin “Cory” VanBruggen, age 59, stepped into glory surrounded by his family on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, after a courageous seven-year battle with glioblastoma. Born in Holland, Michigan, Cory was a creative, inquisitive, and problem-solving young boy from the get-go. There wasn’t a model airplane he couldn’t build or a prank he couldn’t pull off on his older sister Pam. Cory’s family moved around the Midwest before finally settling in Cutlerville where Cory graduated from South Christian High School in 1981. After two years at Calvin College, Cory decided to follow his dream of working with airplanes at the Detroit Institute of Aeronautics. He graduated and worked for Transcontinental Airlines as an aircraft mechanic and then moved to Columbus, Ohio, to build the B1B Bomber for Rockwell International.

Cory was introduced to the love of his life, Jan VanDyke, through a mutual friend. The couple married in 1987 and both eventually worked for Northwest Airlines, Jan as a gate agent and Cory as a mechanic. The “D” terminal at the Detroit Metro Airport holds a lot of special memories for them. Following three years of fun, traveling, and making a home in Livonia, Cory and Jan had their first son, Andy, in 1991. Their second son, Mark, was born three years later in 1994. The family of four moved back to the northeast side of Grand Rapids (where Jan grew up) in 1997. During the next season of Cory’s life, when he wasn’t tinkering in his basement workshop or building an elaborate treehouse (complete with a pulley system to the house) for his boys, Cory worked for Tiara Yachts, honed his woodworking skills at Howard Miller Clocks, and later became a skilled tradesman at Pridgeon & Clay. The family spent many summers camping at Wilderness State Park and in typical Cory fashion, rather than relaxing on the beach, Cory tested out the seaworthiness of his hand-built canoe and sea kayak. No surprise…they both survived the Straits! Anything Cory could get his hands on he either crafted into something beautiful, fixed, or improved, even numerous medical devices, much to his doctor’s dismay. Our family’s go-to, fix-it, build-it, make-it-all-better guy will be greatly missed.

Cory was preceded in death by his mother, Gladys VanBruggen; father-in-law, David VanDyke, and an infant brother. Cory is survived by his wife, Jan, of 35 years, along with his two sons, Andy (Chris) and Mark (special friend, Jamie); father, Edwin VanBruggen; sister, Pam (Dan) Rozema; mother-in-law, Anne VanDyke; four sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Barb (Bill) Watson, Carol (Ray) Befus, David (Lynn) VanDyke, Tim (Sandy) Van Dyke; numerous nieces and nephews; and Maximus, his faithful, furry, ferocious, four-pound therapy dog.

A memorial celebration of Cory’s life will be Wednesday, October 5, at 3 p.m., at Vineyard North Church, 4700 East Beltline Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49525. Family will receive visitors at 1:30 p.m. at the church before the service begins. The service will be live-streamed at memorylanejane.com/vanbruggen 

 In lieu of flowers, a memorial contribution may be made to the American Brain Tumor Association and Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids.

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