Zeeland celebrates city manager’s 25 years of service, leadership, and grace

Twelve years ago, during her first week as CEO of Lakeshore Advantage, Jennifer Owens called Zeeland City Manager Tim Klunder to introduce herself.

The call went to voicemail.

A few hours later, Klunder returned her call with an apology. He hadn’t been in a meeting or behind his desk. He had been standing in the flooded basement of a Zeeland home, helping a family assess water damage and determine what the city could do to help.

“Think about that for a second,” Owens says. “The city manager in someone’s flooded basement. I work with hundreds of city managers, and this was the first one who, instead of sending staff or saying it was outside their area of expertise, was there on a bad day for that family.”

For Owens, that phone call revealed everything about Klunder’s approach to leadership.

“This is a man who shows up not just for the ribbon cuttings and the easy wins,” she says, “but for the basements, for the hard, unglamorous human moments where a community needs its leader.”

Owens’ story was one of many shared during a celebration of Klunder’s 25 years as Zeeland’s city manager.

Grateful tributes

More than 100 family members, friends, city leaders, business owners and residents gathered under white tents in the courtyard of the Colonial Clock Building for a two-hour reception. Tim and his wife, Kim, sat together at the front while people spent nearly an hour sharing stories about his leadership, his kindness and the many ways he has helped Zeeland.

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Again and again, the stories showed what happened behind the scenes. They described a city manager who took time to help people, listened before making decisions, and built strong relationships throughout the community.

The celebration was also deeply personal. Klunder is battling late-stage cancer. Many people came not only to thank him for his years of service, but also to tell him how much he has meant to them, their families and the Zeeland community.

The courtyard reflected another side of Klunder’s personality.

An avid golfer, his favorite pastime was woven throughout the celebration. Golf tees decorated the tables, and former Mayor Kevin Klynstra compared leading a city to navigating a round of golf before presenting Klunder with a bright green sport coat embroidered with Zeeland’s “Feel the Zeel” logo — the city’s version of the iconic green jacket presented each year to the winner of the Masters Tournament.

“Managing a city isn’t much different,” Klynstra says. “There are days when everything lands right down the middle, and there are other days when you’re just hoping to save par after hitting into the trees.”

Through every challenge, he says, Klunder remained calm, thoughtful and focused.

“Tim helped keep our city on the fairway, navigated more than his share of hazards and left the course in better shape than he found it.”

Focus on relationships

Throughout the program, Klunder sat beside his wife, Kim, at a table next to the podium so speakers could face him as they shared stories, memories and words of thanks. Smiling and often laughing, he listened as each person reflected on his 25 years of service.

When the tributes ended, Klunder stood to speak.

Klunder told of the lesson he learned from the late Les Hoogland, Zeeland’s longest-serving mayor.

“He taught me that leadership is about people,” Klunder says.

“When I came here, I always thought it was projects, the next thing — let’s get this done, let’s get this done,” Klunder says. “He would continually just deal with people, almost to my annoyance, quite honestly. Then finally it sunk in. It’s those relationships that are important.”

Those relationships became the common thread running through nearly every tribute.

Owens says she has never heard Klunder speak poorly of another person or lose his composure.

“In all these years, I’ve never once heard him say a bad word about anyone,” she says. “I’ve never heard him rattled, rushed or short with a single person who walked through his door.”

She describes him as “the calmest, most even-keeled person I have ever known.”

“That is not an accident,” Owens says. “That is a choice he made over and over again for a quarter of a century.”

Zeeland Mayor Pro Tem Sally Gruppen remembers interviewing Klunder 25 years ago after the city decided to hire its first professional city manager.

She and another council member traveled across Michigan to interview finalists before arriving in St. Clair, where Klunder was city manager.

“The answers he gave were exactly what we hoped to hear,” Gruppen says. “We knew he had a loyal heart. That’s what we were looking for — somebody we could trust.”

She says the city has never questioned that decision.

“Never once have any of us looked back on that hire,” Gruppen says. “It’s been amazing.”

Always approachable

In preparing for the celebration, Gruppen spent two weeks talking with city employees, downtown business owners and residents, asking each to describe Klunder in a word or two.

The responses came back remarkably consistent.

“Christian man of his word. Cheerful. Full of integrity. Kind. Caring. Honest. Compassionate. Mentor. Dependable. Gracious. Role model. Approachable.”

One word, she says, stood above the rest.

“Approachable. Everyone felt comfortable going to Tim. Whatever your problem was, whatever your need was, you could bring it to Tim.”

She ended her remarks by thanking Klunder for the example he set.

“This great community has learned so much from you as a leader,” Gruppen says. “Thank you for continuing to lead us all by example.”

Klunder spent little time talking about his accomplishments. Instead, he thanked city councils for trusting staff, city employees for putting Zeeland first each day, and his family for the sacrifices they made throughout his career.

His father, he says, taught him another lesson that guided both his work and his life.

“If you don’t have integrity, you don’t have anything.”

After the formal program ended, the celebration continued.

Dozens of people lined up to hug Tim and Kim, shake their hands and share memories. Some thanked Klunder for helping them through hard times. Others talked about projects they worked on together or simply thanked him for always being kind, calm and ready to help.

When he spoke during the program, Klunder reflected on the faith that has sustained him throughout his cancer journey.

“A number of years ago, I gained an understanding of grace,” he says. “I think it’s the most beautiful word in the English language. The definition of grace is the free and unearned favor and love of God. I would encourage you, just as humans, to extend grace to others. It’s something we can all do a better job of.”

Then, speaking of the future, he offered one final thought.

“Through the grace of God, I’m very confident where I’m going into the future. I don’t know when that will be, but I have that confidence.”