Alexander Pappy Victor de Boer

Alexander "Pappy" Victor de Boer was born at 12:45am on February the 22nd, 1953 to Jan Frederik and Victoria Emma de Boer. He was born in The Hague, The Netherlands where he spent the first 12 years of his life prior to immigrating to the United States with his older brother, Jan, and his mother. Pappy spent his formative years growing up in Walnut Creek, California where he graduated high school. He kept a tight knit group of friends that he stayed in touch with until his final days. Pappy entered the United States Army in November of 1972 and was honourably discharged in November of 1976. He was lucky enough to avoid being deployed to Vietnam where his brother served 2 tours. He was stationed in several locations but always spoke most fondly of his time while stationed in Germany where he was afforded time to focus on his growing interest and fondness of beer. There were fewer places to be stationed that would better suit that interest than Germany. After leaving the army Pappy spent some time living in Holland as well as travelling through and living in different parts of North America, at different times calling the states of California, Florida and Colorado home. Pappy often described this period of his life as his time of being "lost" and "out there" but often spoke fondly of the lessons he learned and people he met while he was "out there". Sometime in 1984, while working as a manager for a restaurant in Denver, he managed to have a few beers and impress one of his co-managers enough that she agreed to meet him again for a few more beers. Those beers would lead onto many more beers and eventually onto marriage with the love of his life, Rae Lynn, in September of 1986. Rae Lynn and Alex went on to have 2 boys, Dennis and Jan Austin. This period is where Pappy transitioned from "lost" to "found". Pappy spent his remaining years in the workforce as the world's most honest and passionate mortgage banker. For his whole life Pappy always treated people with kindness,respect and consideration. This made his job in banking more challenging than for most, he was wholeheartedly interested in helping people buy homes they could afford and make their lives better. These values were probably ill-suited in the times leading up to the 2008 mortgage crisis but Pappy always wore his heart on his sleeve and was steadfast in upholding his values and beliefs in helping people get houses they could afford. In 2015 Pappy and Rae Lynn decided to relocate to Florida and Pappy began his transition into retirement. Florida provided the ideal environment for him to focus on some of the things cherished most; golf, meeting new people, exploring new places and enjoying cold beer. In 2020, after having their fill of hurricanes and oppressively hot summers, Pappy and Rae Lynn relocated to Telford, Tennessee. The much more temperate climate paired with large oak forests and rolling hills provided the idyllic setting for their continual search of new places and experiences. It was during this time that Pappy reignited his passion for motorcycles after purchasing a brand new CanAm, which he and Rae Lynn could often be found cruising the winding 2-lane highways and backroads that surrounded their home. In 2021 he felt compelled to give more of his time and devotion to learning the Bible. He and Rae Lynn sought out a church home where the Word was foremost, and its people were genuine Christians with truth-seeking, loving hearts. On August 7 Alex and Rae Lynn were Baptised and were accepted as members of Mt. Bethel Christian Church. Alex loved this "new" church, and while his health was beginning to fail him quickly, the membership lovingly and continually prayed for him. The church members prayed also for Alex's brother Jan, when his house burned down from the California wildfires, then they continued to pray for Jan as his life came to an end in November after battling cancer for several years. Alex listened intently to the sermons and Bible studies presented by Pastor Palma Bennett and Reece Cunningham. He admired and respected them both immensely. On Sundays when he couldn't make it to church, he watched Billy Graham sermons, usually several sermons, back to back. It was important to Alex to know that he was forgiven and that Jesus would accept him. Pappy passed away due to heart complications around 12:30pm on December 1st with his son, Jan Austin, by his side. He is survived by his wife Rae Lynn and sons, Dennis and Jan Austin. He will forever be known as the big guy with a big heart. He was a man of simple pleasures and loved nothing more than to be in the moment. He loved God, his family, golf and beer.