SEYMOUR, MO.
Kathleen Sikkema, 92
Musician and Soprano Soloist
Formerly of Ellsworth, Kathleen Sikkema, age 92, passed peacefully away on April 2, 2018, at her home in Seymour, Mo., attended by bodhisattvas and angels.
Before moving to Seal Harbor in 1968 from Ridgewood, N.J., Kathleen performed at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and in Town Hall in New York City. She taught more than 50 private students a week and group guitar classes for Adult Education. She was part of a women’s vocal group, The Tone Aires, that raised thousands of dollars for UNICEF.
Renowned for her passion and skill with music, for several decades she managed Victor’s House of Music on Main Street in Ellsworth. An accomplished soprano soloist, Kathleen sang and traveled with the Surry Opera Company during the group’s famous outreach series to the former Soviet Union. During the summers, she could be found at the Barn in Surry sharing her beautiful voice with visitors from far and near.
Over the years she’s taught the fundamentals of music to thousands of people, showcasing her mastery of classical guitar, voice, piano and organ. Later in life, Ms. Sikkema became a traveling elementary school music teacher in Hancock County, where she brought music alive for rural youth.
She served as choir director at St. Saviour’s Church in Bar Harbor in the late 1960s before going on to work as music director at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellsworth. Kathleen also enjoyed performing and directing musicals for the Ellsworth Players and The Gilbert & Sullivan Society. During her 70s, Kathleen sang with a local folk music group called Generations. She made her last CD at age 86 — “Wondrous Love” — which included many of her most cherished hymns.
Kathleen was an accomplished artist. She enjoyed writing, making quilts, painting and creating intricate beaded jewelry. She even built her own house in Ellsworth Falls.
She was born in Paterson, N.J., to Frank and Radia Van Dyk and was the beloved mother of Robert Sikkema of Melrose, Mass., Jo Moon of Springfield, Mo., Nancy Lee Sikkema of West Plains, Mo., and Norma Jean Sikkema of Springfield, Mo. Beside her four children, she is survived by her younger sisters, Mildred Wood of Hilton Head, S.C., and Elizabeth Van Dyk of Ellsworth, by her grandchildren Theresa Ellis, Christina Colleen Moon, Raedia Sikkema Albinson and Katie Sikkema Knauber, and by her great-grandchildren Braden Ellis, River Ellis, and Max Sikkema Albinson. Kathleen has numerous nieces and nephews, many great- and great-grandnieces and nephews, and her daughter-in-law, Martha.
A memorial service in celebration of her life will be scheduled at the Ellsworth Unitarian Universalist Church in August.
Donations in her memory are suggested to the Bagaduce Music Lending Library of Blue Hill (https://bagaducemusic.org).
For further details regarding her life, please visit https://www.holdenfunerals.com/obituaries/kathleen-sikkema.