Henrietta "Hummy" (Schaper) Klopman

Henrietta “Hummy” Klopman (Schaper) was welcomed into the arms of her Lord on June 7, 2025. She was born on April 24, 1924, in Warns, Netherlands and immigrated through Ellis Island in 1927. She was a life-long resident of Midland Park. She loved her town and always wanted to be remembered as a “Midland Park Girl.”

It is no surprise that she lived to be 101. Her healthy diet, accompanied by her active lifestyle, were instrumental to her longevity. She would walk twice a day year-round only pausing when snow from winter storms would pile up and get in her way. In addition, summer evenings were the perfect time for a bike ride – the route always went up Midland Ave where she would pause to see her daughter and grandchildren. Being a true woman of routine, she would golf every Tuesday morning and bowl every Thursday. She prided herself on keeping an immaculate home and would work hard Monday through Thursday to get all her house chores done so she could enjoy shopping, lunch and ice cream every Friday with her sisters Jennie and Minnie, and sister-in-law, Pearl. Their afternoon would always culminate with a drive through the Wildlife Center in Wyckoff to look for deer and other wildlife.

Hummy married the love of her life, Bern Klopman, in 1946 and they built their house and a life on Irving Street in Midland Park. Hummy lived in this same house until 2014 when she moved into the Holland Christian Home in North Haledon. It was hard to leave her neighborhood because it was filled with wonderful neighbors who became life-long friends. Hummy and Bern were blessed with one child, Barbara Etterbeek (Klopman), and she quickly became their world.  Weekdays were spent running the family business, Schaper Disposal Works, Inc. in Midland Park and weekends were spent on the family farm in Walton, NY, surrounded by cows, horses, and other livestock. Hummy loved the outdoors and all things nature, whether it was enjoying a long walk, going to the beach, raising and caring for animals of all kinds, or cultivating and tending to her beautiful flower gardens that adorned her yard. Above all, Hummy loved her husband and daughter and the life they created so very much.   

Hummy was always very active in her community. She was a member of the Midland Park Ladies Fire Auxiliary, a volunteer at the Eastern Christian Children’s Retreat, a volunteer ball spotter each year at the Eastern Christian Golf Outing, and you would always find her working at the election poll in Midland Park. Through her church she took pride in working at the annual Clam Chowder Dinner, baking and selling cookies at the Eastern Christian Children’s Retreat Fall Fair and participating in numerous Bible study groups throughout the years.

Above all, Hummy was a woman of unshakable faith in the Lord, always looking to God for direction and guidance and turning all things over to him in prayer. Life was unfair to Hummy at times, but she never complained or questioned His will, firmly believing that it was all part of His plan. She was a charter member of the Irving Park CRC, and later Faith Reformed CRC, both in Midland Park.

Hummy will be missed dearly by all who knew her, but we will all smile when we think of her no-nonsense attitude, quick wit, dry sense of humor, and sometimes snarky comments.

Hummy is now at peace and in the long-awaited company of those who went before her. Her twin baby girls who passed shortly after birth in 1948, her loving husband Bern, who predeceased her in 1985, and her cherished daughter, Barbara Etterbeek (Klopman) who entered eternal grace in 2012. She was also welcomed into Heaven by her sister Jennie Marcus, and her brothers - Orie, John, Frank, and Sam Schaper.

Mourning her loss, but celebrating a life so well-lived, is her granddaughter Kristen DeMarco (Etterbeek) and husband Carl of Wyckoff, and grandson David Etterbeek of Midland Park. She will be greatly missed but never forgotten by her three great-grandsons whom she adored, Jack Etterbeek of Waldwick, and Carson and Connor DeMarco of Wyckoff. She also leaves behind her loving and devoted sister, Minnie Siegers, of Midland Park.

The Klopman family will receive friends and family from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home, 257 Godwin Ave, Wyckoff, NJ. A funeral service will be held 10:00 AM, Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at the funeral home. Interment to follow at George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus, NJ.

In Lieu of Flowers donations can be made in Hummy's memory to the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai.

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