Retired Teacher Killed While Training for Sea to Sea

Sea to Sea cyclists pulled out of the campground in Regina, Sask., on Monday morning in a silence that lasted for several hours as they rode to their next stop at Fort Qu’Appelle.

They were silent because they were grieving and wanted to honor the memory of one of their own — Clarence Doornbos, a veteran Sea to Sea rider who, along with his wife, Janice, was to connect with the bike tour in a few days in Grand Rapids, Minn.

“With our love and great sorrow we ride in memory of Clare. A great champion of the cause. Goodbye, dear friend,” wrote a rider on Sea to Sea’s Facebook page.

Doornbos, a former high school band teacher, died Saturday, July 16, after an SUV ran into him and another rider, Claire Elgersma, also a Sea to Sea alumnus, as they rode their bikes along Hanna Lake Ave. near 92nd St. in Caledonia, Mich. Doornbos, 76, was training for the tour.

In a blog post, Sea to Sea rider Ida Kaastra Mutoigo, Canada director for World Renew, said riders were shocked and saddened when they arrived at the campground in Regina on Saturday and heard what had happened.

Held to raise funds to fight poverty at home and around the world, the  2017 Sea to Sea tour began in Vancouver, B.C., in June and will end in late August in Halifax, N.S. The first Sea to Sea ride was launched in 2010 to mark the CRC in Canada’s 100th anniversary.

Both Doornbos and Elgersma, who was injured in the accident, forged close bonds with other riders on past tours, experiencing blistering heat and biting cold, riding up and down mountains, and joining in the fellowship of other equally exhausted riders in campgrounds and church basements at night.

“Sea to Sea is like a family. It is hard to understand what it is like if you haven’t participated in it,” said Terry Barnes, tour director.

“Clare [Doornbos] knew what is was like to be a rider, how you become unified in purpose” on a tour with other riders. “Everyone understands what a difficult task it is to ride 100 kilometers a day. But they do it because they believe in the mission of fighting poverty,” said Barnes.

Funds raised go to support local ministries in the towns that the tour goes through, as well as the ministries of Partners Worldwide and World Renew.

Clarence Doornbos taught band at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian High School and retired in 2001. Before coming to Grand Rapids, he also taught at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Christian High School; Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa; and Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California.

Besides biking, he had many interests including model railroading, photography, and classic cars, and he was a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, according to a notice about his death.

His family is asking that memorial contributions be given to Sea to Sea.

“Clarence was a very passionate cyclist. He loved cycling. He was a passionate Christian. He was passionate about marginalized people,” Ed Witvoet of Sea to Sea told 24 Hour News 8 of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Doornbos was a member of LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, where preaching pastor Rev. Peter Jonker said Doornbos was very active and will be deeply missed.

“Everyone knew Clare. He went out of his way to welcome others,” said Jonker.

Read story from The Banner about Clare Doornbos and Sea to Sea.