Margaret VanderWelle Luteyn film interview
Margaret VanderWelle and Mina Dekker were best friends. Their families had been friendly in the Netherlands and when both families landed in the New World, they sought to renew the amicable ties. As a result, the children of each family grew up together even though the Dekker settled in Grand Rapids and the VanderWelles in Kalamazoo, a distance of some 50 miles. The children spent weeks together during the summers and would convene, too, during the school year. Mina and Margaret maintained a close communication through letters, what they came to call their “roses.”
After Mina’s murder police found a finished but unmailed letter to Margaret. They told her about it when they interviewed her. But they wouldn’t give it to her until the investigation was finished…and that hasn’t happened so far. But policies change and the police allowed us to present Margaret with a scanned copy of the missive. Her comment: “I’ve been waiting 70 years for that letter.”
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