Robert Rabe

Robert William Rabe, age 82, of Byron Center, peacefully went to be the Lord after a long, hard battle with Lewy Body Dementia on Thursday, April 21, 2022. Robert was the kindest, most sincere human you could meet. He had such a gentle, fair and trustworthy demeanor. You could count on him for anything, and he loved to see people laugh. He grew up and graduated from Wyoming Park High School and then became a police officer for the City of Wyoming. After several years with the Wyoming Police Department, he moved to Steelcase Inc. and was instrumental in the creation of their Protection Services Department. He then moved into human resources at Steelcase and retired in 2001. After retirement, Robert and Bette enjoyed spending their winters in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Dortha Rabe; his first wife of 25 years, Judith (Boyer) Rabe; brother, Frederic Rabe; and sister, Donna Rosel. He will be dearly missed by his wife of nearly 36 years, Bette (Bosscher) Rabe; children, Cindy (Jeff) Stegmeier, Bob Jr. (Sheila) Rabe, Joan (Ritch) Holmes, Julie (Steve) Morrow, Deanna (Alex) Pool, and Steve (Jenniffer) Prince; 19 grandchildren, Nicole, Stephanie, McKenzie, Rhonda, Melissa, Shanna, Riley, Ethan, Alycia, Andrea, Travis, Jessica, Lauren, Ethan, Brady, Anderson, Carson, Lucas, and Jayne; 6 great-grandchildren, Oliver, Lillana, Scarlett, Robert, Zayn, and Cleo; sister, Carol Vandenberg; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Peggy Hayes, Thomas (Sheila) Bosscher, Beverly Papke, Joy (Mark) Jurries, Gail (Kevin Hill) Besemer; and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2022, at 2 p.m. at Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville) 4145 Chicago Dr. SW. Relatives and friends may meet the family Saturday from 1-2 p.m. at the funeral home prior to the service. Memorial contributions in honor of Robert may be made to Hope Hospice, 9470 HealthPark Circle, Fort Myers FL 33908 (donate.hopehcs.org), Lewy Body Dementia Association (lbda.org/donate/), or the Dementia Society of America, PO Box 600, Doylestown, PA 18901 (dementiasociety.org/donate)