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Major Kay Kortstra was promoted to Glory Aug. 29 from San Diego, Calif.
Kay Hofman was born Sept. 24, 1923, to Geertje and Willim Hofman in Groningen, Holland. She became acquainted with The Salvation Army at the age of 12 when she attended an open-air meeting.
Hofman married Ralph Kortstra and the couple emigrated to the United States in 1949, coming in through Ellis Island in New York. For a time, they made their home in Schenectady, N.Y., where their oldest daughter, Francina, was born. In 1953, they moved to California, first living in Ontario and then in Long Beach, where their second daughter, Jane, was born. In 1956, they moved to San Francisco to enter the College for Officer Training. As members of the Faithful Session, the Kortstras were commissioned as 2nd lieutenants in 1957.
Appointments followed in Redlands, Santa Barbara, Stockton, Marysville and Hanford, Calif.; and Portland Citadel and La Grande, Ore. After a break in service, Kortstra was appointed as a single officer to Merced, Calif., in 1980. She then served at the College for Officer Training in Special Services, at the Door of Hope in San Diego and as associate corps officer at San Diego Citadel. She retired in 1988.
Kortstra is survived by daughters Major Francina (Dan) Proctor of Oklahoma City, Okla.; Jane Kortstra of San Diego; two granddaughters, Kally (Luis) Juarez of Oklahoma City and Kaylene (Mark) Baker of Abilene, Texas; and great-grandson Joshua Daniel Juarez.
A service of celebration was held Oct. 28 at the El Cajon (Calif.) Corps. Major Dan Proctor and Corps Officer Captain Terry Masango officiated.
