Glenn R. Beernink, computing pioneer, seminary administrator, at 82

Glenn Roy Beernink of Novi, Michigan and longtime resident of Norfolk, Massachusetts died peacefully on December 19, 2013 at Fox Run Senior Living Center following a long illness. He was born September 4, 1931 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, son of Roy Samuel and Evelyn Mae Coy Beernink.

Mr. Beernink, who received his bachelor's degree in business administration in 1953 from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, started working for General Motors in Bay City, Michigan as an accounting trainee. In 1960 following a transfer to the Chevrolet plant in Framingham, Massachusetts, he began programming and designing application systems for early IBM computers, which led to a transfer to General Motors and a move to Livonia, MI in 1965. In the early 1970s he was instrumental in the design and development of an internal GM system that included email, word processing, spreadsheet and database capabilities on large multiuser mainframes prior to the introduction of desktop computers.

In 1979 he left GM to join a Boston area financial application software firm as product director and finance administrator. He later was the vice-president and chief business/finance officer for Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts.

In retirement, Mr. Beernink was active in his community and served on the Town of Norfolk Advisory Board/Finance Committee for six years.

Mr. Beernink is survived by his wife of 60 years, Donna; a sister, Nancy Scott of Urbana, Illinois: three daughters, Rita Leazott of Franklin, Massachusetts, Pamela Knedgen and her husband Mark of Novi, Michigan, and Linda Carroll and her husband Dave of Spring Hill, Tennessee and a son William, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and his one brother, Kenneth Coy Beernink.

Visitation 9 a.m. until Funeral Service at 10 a.m. Friday December 27, 2013 at Ward Presbyterian Church, 40000 Six Mile Rd. in Northville.

Burial will take place in the afternoon at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.