Shirley Weersing was a true “garden angel” — she had a lifelong passion for making landscapes beautiful. It’s hard to drive through the Holland area without passing a place that has the green thumbprints of her and her fellow garden club volunteers.
Shirley’s love for plants began in a high school botany class. She took more botany in college while majoring in languages with a minor in business. She and her husband Clark moved to Holland in 1959, where Clark started his chiropractic practice. After 10 years, Shirley retired from her job at General Electric and became a member of Holland Garden Club. Over the years, she served in many club capacities including club president. She took Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan courses and received national accreditation as a gardening and landscape design consultant. Shirley served that organization on the district and state level for many years. She chaired a landscape design series in Holland for students from around the state, and her Shirley Weersing trophy is awarded annually at the Tulip Time Flower Show.
When asked whether she had a favorite plant or flower, she noted that choosing just one would be like choosing a favorite among one’s own children. “I love so many,” she says with a smile.
Shirley planned and completed memorial gardens, helped at DeGraaf Nature Center, served as grounds chair at the Cappon House and First Presbyterian Church, and oversaw the renovation of the landscape at the Herrick Library. She noted the library gave Holland Garden Club a plaque for their landscaping work, which is still on display there after the more recent building expansion.
“The community is part of our family — it’s been a good place for us here. Even though we were not blessed with children, we were blessed with full lives and want to continue to make a difference in the community even when we’re gone.”
– Shirley Weersing
Shirley volunteered to beautify many Holland parks, such as Window on the Waterfront, and helped plant the city/court complex and Habitat for Humanity houses. Her church landscape won the Holland Area Beautiful Award twice. Her house landscape won “The Most Beautiful Spring Garden Contest” at Tulip Time in 1980 and 1990, which brought her the Netherlands’ De Mooiste Lentetuin silver medallion.
All in all, Shirley said, “It’s been so satisfying to work alongside others over the years on so many worthwhile endeavors. It’s a thrill when I go to Meijer Gardens and see Holland Garden Club’s name etched on the glass window sill for our early help there.”
Shirley said she and Clark learned together to use what skills they had to give back to the community they’d come to love. While Shirley’s kept busy making Holland beautiful, Clark led a Scout troop for 15 years, served two terms on City Council, and volunteered 15 years at Evergreen Commons in the Day Health area after his retirement.
In addition to giving their time, Clark and Shirley have made arrangements in their estate plans to form a Field of Interest Fund, the Clark and Shirley Weersing Fund, at the Community Foundation.
Shirley spent much of her life sharing her gifts with the community, brightening its surroundings with each and every project. The Clark and Shirley Weersing Fund will allow Shirley’s years of beautification efforts to live on in the Holland/Zeeland area forever. The fund will be used to enhance, beautify, create or add to the landscape, park gardens, the community greenhouse or other beautification projects.
