Earl R. Boonstra of Boynton Beach, Florida, formerly of Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, passed away on October 17, 2018 at the age of 101.

The youngest of twelve children born to Sake D. Boonstra and Adriana (Jane) DeGraff, Earl was the last surviving grandchild of the early Dutch settlers of Zeeland Township, Michigan, in the middle 1800's.

Earl considered his life to have three phases. Early life on the farm on which he and his father lived alone for several years, his five year service in World War II, his almost five decade legal career in Michigan.

He was most proud of his military service with the United States Army, for which he volunteered immediately in 1940 when the Unites States began to rearm. Assigned to the infantry, he earned several non-commissioned officer promotions, was appointed to Infantry Officers Tranining School, graduated Second Lieutenant, and, as part of the new 76 ^th Division, was promoted to First Lieutenant and then to Company Commander. Tired of training with no combat, he transferred to Air Corps for flight training, and thereafter piloted a Boeing B-29 Superfortress for some twenty weather and photo reconnaissance and bombing missions over Japan from the Marianna Islands in the Pacific. Earl was awarded an Air Medal, for distinguished, meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight, as well as other honors, and ended his military career at the rank of Captain.

Upon return to civilian life he enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan under the famous G.I. Bill, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Juris Doctor degree with distinction from the Law School. After graduation, Earl joined a small, twelve person (with Earl) law firm in Detroit, now known as Dykema. During his nearly 50 years of practice the firm grew to one of the largest law firms headquartered in Michigan; it currently has over four hundred attorneys nationwide. At age 72 he retired as Senior Partner.

One of Michigan's leading labor lawyers during the tumultuous, post-war labor-organizing years, Earl represented clients from the manufacturing, banking, and retailing industries, as well as cities and municipalities. Earl was a member of the Michigan Bar for over 60 years, and was appointed a member of the United States Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, for which he became a life member.

In addition to his main hobby of golf, Earl was an avid outdoorsman. He skied the Colorado resorts and Swiss Alps, and hunted caribou, deer and elk – in Michigan since his youth and later in Canada, Alaska, and the Western Rockies. In retirement Earl enjoyed several annual quail hunts in Florida and Georgia.

Always active in volunteer work, Earl served a president of the Board of Directors of the Detroit Athletic Club and of the Lochmoor Club in Grosse Point Woods, as a director of several hospitals and of the Michigan Senior Golf Association, and as a member of man civic and club boards. At his death he was a member of the Country Club of Florida, the Ocean Club, and Quail Ridge Country Club, and Senior Honorary Member, Detroit Athletic Club.

Grateful for the opportunities given him by the University of Michigan and the GI Bill, Earl established the Earl and Margaret Boonstra Scholarship Fund at the University of Michigan, to support merit and financial need scholarships, as a thank you from the Boonstra family.

Margaret E. Christie Boonstra ("Chris") Earl's devoted wife of 61 years, predeceased him. Earl and Chris enjoyed the sports rivalry of their respective Alma Maters – the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. All eight of Earl's siblings who lived to adulthood also predeceased him. They were John, Frank, Edwin, Richard, Ann Boonstra DeJonge, Marjorie Boonstra Bos, Gertrude Boonstra Wagonveld, and Elizabeth Boonstra Walters.

Earl's dear wife Lenore Raborn Boonstra and her children Richard and Robin, along with several grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, survive him. Also surviving are Earl's some 140 nephews and nieces, grand and great, who reside primarily in Western Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Earl's memory to a charity of the donor's choice or to the University of Michigan for the "Earl R. and   Margaret C. Boonstra Endowed Scholarship Fund."