Dr. John Ykema, 1928–2025, friend of Westminster and chairman of the board, and generous financial donor to the seminary, was a devout Christian and fierce defender of biblical faithfulness.
After joining the navy in 1951 as a designer of electrical systems for ships, he joined ITE Circuit Breaker Co. (now part of L3 Harris), working for the company from 1955–2019. “Over the course of his career, he was awarded multiple patents for inventions that advanced the art of electrical circuit protection” (official obituary).
John Ykema was married to his wife Marilyn for almost fifty-four years before she passed away in 2005. Together they raised four children in the faith: Linda, Jan, Sandy, and Steve. He had three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Dr. Peter Lillback, friend of Dr. Ykema and President Emeritus of Westminster, observed, “He worked far beyond normal retirement years into his 90th year, as a commitment to honor the Lord with the gifts that God gave him in his professional life.”
Both Dr. Lillback and Rev. Timothy Brindle, (M.Div. and Th.M., WTS) Pastor of Olive Street Presbyterian Church, shared reflections on how John Ykema’s dedication extended far beyond his work as his faith propelled him to impact their lives and the work of Westminster.
Leader
Dr. Ykema committed to his work at Westminster with the same tenacity he had for his career: “In his leadership at the seminary, he not only guided it through difficult years, but also gave wise counsel to me as a president,” Dr. Lillback said. Dr. Lillback shared that John loved to have breakfast with those at the seminary to share his thoughts as a board member and Christian man, and to encourage and pray with them.
Rev. Brindle agreed, writing that Dr. Ykema, his “father in the faith” from 2020–2025, met with him “every month to read Scripture and pray. John was extremely gripped by the truth of Scripture and found his all in Christ as he often emphasized to me the fear of the LORD [sic], walking in integrity, and leading my family in worship.” With Dr. Lillback, Brindle noted Dr. Ykema’s commitment to fidelity at Westminster through a trying time of reckoning: “the Lord greatly used John to take the lead in standing against Westminster professors who denied the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture, helping to bring in Dr. Lillback to reform and strengthen our faculty and board.”
To honor his leadership at Westminster, Dr. Ykema received an honorary doctorate in 2019. In commemoration a plaque at Westminster was created, bearing his favorite Bible verses from Isaiah and Revelation that call for the remembrance of the authority of the word of God.
Christian and Evangelist
Dr. Ykema stayed the course till his final moments. Dr. Lillback recounts the providential details of Dr. Ykema’s funeral:
While I sat at Tenth Presbyterian Church praying before a morning service just days before his passing, I wondered what I should preach on for such a faithful stalwart leader in the kingdom of Christ. I had a deep impression in my soul that I needed to preach from Isaiah 40. When I met his family at John’s funeral service a week later, they emotionally revealed that Isaiah 40 was the last chapter they had read to John before he passed away. And then amazingly, an elder from his church said that when he came in to pray with John in his last week of life, he too had read Isaiah 40 to him. . . .
Because of John’s love for the Scriptures, I knew I could not have just a short message on Isaiah 40, but he would have expected a full exposition. John loved the Bible and he would want all those that were there to put their faith in Christ and to delight in the truths of a sovereign God Who comforts His people by His Word.
Brindle writes, “In his final months, as his body continued to break down, John absolutely longed to be absent from the body and present with the Lord! So his departure was bitter-sweet with an emphasis on sweet, although we mourn to (temporally) lose such a faithful man of God.”