DAVID J. DEJONGE — PRESS BIOGRAPHIES

ONE-SENTENCE DESCRIPTION

David J. DeJonge is a Michigan photographer and entrepreneur who built two founder-led visual enterprises and applied the same combination of craft, trust, and persistence to filmmaking, public history, policy, and cultural preservation.


SHORT BIOGRAPHY

David J. DeJonge is a Michigan photographer, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and civic advocate. He founded DeJonge Studio in 1988 and grew it from a basement practice into a portrait studio at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. An earlier ninety-second Grand Rapids sitting produced an image used by Newt Gingrich’s organization and led to a documented Washington, D.C., follow-up. In 2008, nine of DeJonge’s portraits of the last surviving World War I veterans entered the Pentagon’s permanent collection. He later directed Pershing’s Last Patriot and founded Legacy Icons, whose cultural-preservation work includes a collaboration supporting Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai.


MEDIUM BIOGRAPHY

David J. DeJonge is a photographer, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and civic advocate based in Zeeland, Michigan. He established DeJonge Studio in 1988 and built it from a basement practice into a portrait studio at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. During an earlier Grand Rapids assignment, he was given ninety seconds to photograph Newt Gingrich; the resulting image was used in Gingrich’s calendar, website, and PAC brochure and led to a Washington, D.C., follow-up documented by Professional Photographer. CNN later presented DeJonge’s 2003 portrait of President Gerald R. Ford as Ford’s last formal portrait around his ninetieth birthday.

In 1996, DeJonge and Grand Rapids Press columnist Karin Orr began Michigan Veterans of Five Wars, interviewing and photographing nearly thirty Michigan combat veterans. The exhibition appeared at the Van Andel Museum Center, the Michigan State Capitol Rotunda, and later as a permanent installation at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. In May 2006, he traveled Route 66 as photographer and documentarian for ALS Across America, a campaign that Mary Free Bed reports ultimately raised $318,000. Later that year, DeJonge began an independently financed project to find, photograph, and interview the last surviving veterans of World War I. He worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs to identify and document nine veterans whose portraits were unveiled at the Pentagon for permanent exhibition on March 6, 2008.

DeJonge helped organize and served as president of the World War I Memorial Foundation, worked with schools and public officials through a multi-Congress commemoration campaign, published two bylined opinion pieces in The Washington Post, and directed the documentary Pershing’s Last Patriot. He later founded Legacy Icons, whose cultural-preservation work includes collaboration supporting Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai. As of August 2026, DeJonge reports that the debt-free company has surpassed 80,000 customers and four million annual website visits; internal sales records document years and periods above 40 percent growth.


FULL PRESS BIOGRAPHY

David J. DeJonge is a Michigan photographer, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and civic advocate whose career has been shaped by a consistent method: get close enough to see clearly, preserve the first-hand evidence, and remain with the work long enough to make it useful.

Raised on twenty acres near Hudsonville, Michigan, DeJonge began his first portrait studio in his parents’ basement. He established DeJonge Studio in 1988 and developed his craft through news photography and private portraiture before operating a studio at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. An earlier Grand Rapids assignment became a defining story: DeJonge asked for five minutes to photograph Newt Gingrich and received ninety seconds. The resulting portrait appeared on the Friends of Newt calendar, newt.org, and in a PAC brochure. A subsequent Washington, D.C., session, documented in the March 2000 issue of Professional Photographer, brought Photogenic Lighting marketing director John Shirilla and Eastman Kodak’s Terry Deglau into Gingrich’s office, where DeJonge worked with both 4 × 5 and medium-format cameras. CNN later presented DeJonge’s 2003 portrait of President Gerald R. Ford as Ford’s last formal portrait around his ninetieth birthday.

In 1996, DeJonge and Grand Rapids Press columnist Karin Orr began Michigan Veterans of Five Wars, interviewing and photographing nearly thirty Michigan combat veterans whose service reached from World War I through Desert Storm. The exhibition debuted at the Van Andel Museum Center in 1998, was presented in the Michigan State Capitol Rotunda in 1999, and later became a permanent twenty-four-image installation at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

In May 2006, DeJonge traveled from Grand Rapids to the Santa Monica Pier as photographer and documentarian for ALS Across America. His photographs and a film made with Brett Ellens recorded people living with ALS along Route 66. Mary Free Bed’s institutional history reports that the campaign ultimately raised $318,000 for people living with ALS in West Michigan.

In 2006, DeJonge turned his attention to the disappearing generation of World War I veterans. Using family resources, he traveled across North America and Europe to photograph, film, and interview surviving witnesses from the United States, Canada, Britain, and Germany. The Department of Veterans Affairs later recorded that DeJonge worked with VA to identify, contact, and document nine veterans. Their portraits were unveiled at the Pentagon on March 6, 2008, and accepted for permanent exhibition.

That day also changed the direction of his public work. Frank Woodruff Buckles, America’s last surviving World War I veteran, attended the Pentagon ceremony and met President George W. Bush at the White House. Later, DeJonge accompanied Buckles to Washington’s neglected D.C. World War I Memorial. DeJonge recalls making two promises there: to help restore the memorial and to continue seeking national recognition for the Americans who served in the Great War.

DeJonge and attorney Edwin Fountain helped organize the World War I Memorial Foundation in 2008, with DeJonge serving as president. The resulting citizen campaign brought together veterans, educators, students, journalists, preservation advocates, and elected officials. DeJonge carried the veterans’ portraits into schools and public venues while working with congressional offices through repeated federal proposals concerning commemoration, a centennial commission, a commemorative coin, and a national memorial. Throughout that work, DeJonge served as a citizen advocate and coalition builder, while Congress and federal agencies carried out their respective constitutional and administrative roles.

The National Park Service completed a major restoration of the D.C. memorial in 2011. Congress subsequently established the World War I Centennial Commission, authorized a commemorative silver-dollar program, and enacted national memorial provisions. DeJonge continued to argue for the National Mall location he and Buckles had championed, including bylined opinion pieces in The Washington Post in 2014 and 2018.

He extended the historical project into Pershing’s Last Patriot, a feature documentary for which public credits identify him as director, co-writer, and executive producer. The project also supported civic-education programs in which students researched the war, created exhibitions, raised funds, met Buckles, and joined the national discussion about remembrance.

DeJonge later founded Legacy Icons, bringing his experience in photographic reproduction and historical interpretation to sacred Christian art. That work now includes a collaboration connected with Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai; Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery has publicly documented DeJonge and the Legacy Icons team’s role in developing a replica-icon project that supports the monastery. As of August 2026, DeJonge reports that Legacy Icons remains debt-free and has surpassed 80,000 customers and four million annual website visits. Earlier internal sales records document sustained expansion, including years and periods above 40 percent growth. The current operating figures are founder-reported rather than independently audited financial statements.

Based in Zeeland, Michigan, DeJonge continues to work at the intersection of trusted access, historical evidence, public purpose, and cultural preservation. His Dutch family-history research forms a quieter part of the same vocation: preserving inherited records for future generations.


NAME AND ATTRIBUTION

Professional name: David J. DeJonge
Subsequent reference: DeJonge
Family-history presentation: David Jon DeJonge
Historical Dutch ancestors: retain the spelling shown in their records, most often de Jonge
Preferred description: Photographer, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and civic advocate


SELECTED RECOGNITION

WPPI — Accolade of Photographic Mastery (APM) and Accolade of Outstanding Photographic Achievement (AOPA), both earned within David’s first year of WPPI competition
2025 — Hudsonville Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame, Cultural and Performing Arts Accomplishments
2015 — Byzanfest Audience Favourite, Men In Black
2010 — Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative
2006 — Professional Photographers of America AN-NE Award, Promotional Campaign
2003 — Eight WPPI annual-convention competition honors reported by Michigan Retailer


SELECTED PUBLIC-HEALTH PROJECT

ALS Across America, May 18–24, 2006 — Route 66 expedition photography and documentary work by David J. DeJonge. Mary Free Bed reports that the campaign ultimately raised $318,000.
Congressional Record: https://www.congress.gov/109/crec/2006/05/24/152/66/CREC-2006-05-24-pt1-PgE950-3.pdf
Mary Free Bed history: https://www.maryfreebed.com/alsclinic/
Official film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fabe4SVLdKg


CURRENT LEGACY ICONS SCALE

As of August 2026, David DeJonge reports that Legacy Icons remains debt-free and has surpassed 80,000 customers and four million annual website visits. Earlier internal sales records document sustained expansion, including years and periods above 40 percent growth. The current operating figures are founder-reported rather than independently audited financial statements.

For fact-checking, archival requests, image permissions, or interviews:
david@legacyicons.com
202-854-8569


SELECTED PORTRAIT-CAREER RECORD

Professional Photographer, March 2000:
“Politically Correct Portraiture,” printed pages 28–32:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ppmag/archives/2000-03-01.pdf#page=30

CNN transcript, Gerald R. Ford portrait, December 29, 2006:
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/sitroom/date/2006-12-29/segment/01