Cory Hoekstra

CORY ALLEN HOEKSTRA was born to Jerry and Karen (Duggan) Hoekstra on October 30, 1969 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was the favored middle child with two siblings (Perry Hoekstra and Nikki Hoekstra). The Hoekstra’s moved to Pipestone, Minnesota when Cory was four years old. Cory and his gang spent days catching crawdads in the creek behind the house or finding treasure at the adjacent junk yard. When he was 11, the family moved to “town” and activities changed to T-ball and BMX cycling. In high school, Cory loved wood shop class and working with his hands. Upon graduation, he enjoyed various positions in carpentry, construction, home construction, and trucking. He moved to Washington briefly to build his sister’s home and explore other parts of the country. In 2000, his daughter Halle was born, and had been the center of his life since. Cory worked for Musch Construction for the last 18 years doing anything Kevin needed to be done.

Cory has always been extremely generous with his time, talents, and was fiercely loyal to friends close to him. He was often helping friends and family to move snow, mow, fix vehicles, or even move across the country. He loved spending time at Dead Lake, MN for the Duggans’ Annual Blowout, which is a big family reunion with golfing, tubing, water volleyball, fishing, naps in the sun, and pinocle. In his spare time, he enjoyed billiards, Sunday golf with his Uncle Galen, snowmobiling, watching movies with Halle, riding his motorcycle, watching NASCAR (until Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired), and the History channel. People who loved him appreciated his stubbornness and crabby mites because they knew he was a big teddy bear but were always aware that even teddy bears have teeth and claws. He loved to dish out jokes (his famous “Is that a fat joke?”) and sarcasm to show his love along with a big hug (“Do you need a hug?”).

On Friday, January 6, 2023, while helping someone out (something he did best), Cory passed away unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack in York, Nebraska at the age of 53 years.

Cory’s life is celebrated and lovingly remembered by his daughter, Halle Hoekstra of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; mother, Karen Hoekstra of Pipestone; siblings, Perry (Heidi) Hoekstra of Lakeville, Minnesota and Nikki Hoekstra (Brian Bakke) of Anacortes, Washington; and numerous other friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Jerry Hoekstra.