Listen to this article
| < LT. COLONELS ALFRED AND SHERRYL VAN CLEEF |
Lt. Colonels Alfred and Sherryl Van Cleef recently entered active retirement as Salvation Army officers, after over forty years of service together.
A fourth-generation Salvationist, Al served in the US Army as a military policeman and as a combat M.P. After his tour with the Army, Al entered the School for Officers’ Training (SFOT) with the Soldiers of Christ Session, the first two-year session. Commissioned in 1962, Al then served as assistant at Chico, Calif.
The daughter of Salvation Army officers, Sherryl received her calling to serve as an officer while a teenager, and entered training with the Pioneers Session. She was commissioned in 1959 and sent to Wrangell, Alaska as assistant corps officer. Subsequently she was assigned to SFOT, where she met Al.
The couple wed in 1963. Together their ministry has included corps appointments (Monterey Peninsula, Calif.; Colorado Springs; Santa Ana, Calif.) and staff appointments including divisional youth leaders in the Intermountain Division; assignments at SFOT including assistant principal and director of business; divisional secretary and assistant divisional Home League secretary in the Northwest; divisional secretary and nurses fellowship/Silver Star representative in the So. California Division; general secretary and assistant Home League secretary in So. California; and divisional commander and director of women’s organizations of the Alaska, Northwest and Southern California Divisions. They retired as Southern California divisional leaders, where they have served since October 1995.
Both Al and Sherryl were appointed to the International College for Officers and the Brengle Holiness Institute. In addition, Al achieved a MA in Theology from Fuller Seminary.
A celebration of service was held at the Tustin Ranch Corps, Calif., with the retirement certificates presented by Commissioners Bill and Gwen Luttrell.
The Van Cleefs have been blessed with three children, all Salvation Army officers. LeAnn and husband Darren Trimmer are corps officers in Murrieta, Calif. James and wife Penny are corps officers at the Blackburn Corps in England and John and wife Lisa are divisional youth leaders in the Cascade Division. Al and Sherryl are also grandparents to six boys and two girls.
In retirement the Van Cleefs will continue to serve God and The Salvation Army as corps officers of the Sun Cities Area Corps, Ariz. Their address is 16766 West Palisade Trail Ln., Surprise, AZ 85387.