[Obit in the Worthington Daily Globe]
Gerrit Van Roekel
Funeral services will be Monday at 2 p.m. from the Christian Reformed Church for Gerrit Van Roekel, 80, who died Thursday at the Worthington hospital. The Rev. Gilmer Compaan will officiate. Burial will be at the Worthington Cemetery.
Mr. Van Roekel was born July 5, 1886, in the Netherlands, the son of Gerrit and Jennie Blankenstein Van Roekel. He was married to Johanna Klumper Dec. 9, 1914, at Worthington. They lived on a farm near Chandler for one year then moved to Rock Valley, Iowa, for five years where he worked as a blacksmith. From Rock Valley the couple moved to Brewster and in 1929 moved to Worthington where he worked for the Worthington Produce Co. He retired in 1946.
He is survived by two sons, Bernie, Bigelow, and Gerrit J., Brewster, and four daughters, Mrs. Clifford Vander Werf (Margaret), Hartford, S. D., Mrs. Clarence Heikes (Jennie), Ellsworth, Mrs. Everett Shoemaker (Marie), Spring Lake Park, and Mrs. Charles Eves (Henrietta), Lakewood, Cal.
He is also survived by three brothers, Gert, Lorenz, Iowa, Henry, Corsica, S. D., and Bernie, Worthington; one sisters, Mrs. Len Vos, Worthington; 26 grand-children; and nine great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, three brothers, one half-brother, one half-sister, and one great grand-child.
Friends may call at the Benson Funeral Home today and Sunday from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m.
[Obit 23 Nov 1965 in the Worthington Daily Globe]
Mrs. Gerrit Van Roekel
Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 1 at the Benson Funeral Home and at 1:30 p.m. from the Christian Reformed Church for Mrs. Gerrit Van Roekel, 72, 1524 Miller St., who died Sunday at the local hospital. The Rev. John H. Rubingh will officiate. Interment will be in Worthington cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home today between the hours of 2 and 5 and 7 and 9 p.m.
Mrs. Van Roekel was born Johanna Klumper, daughter of Gerrit and Gertrude Koeleman Klumper, July 13, 1893 in The Netherlands. She and Gerrit Van Roekel were married Dec. 9, 1914 at Worthington. They farmed at Chandler for a year, lived at Rock Valley for two years and at Edgerton for a short time before moving to Worthington in 1929, where she had since made her home.
Besides her husband, she is survived by two sons, G. Bernie and Gerrit J., Worthington, and four daughters, Mrs. Clifford Van Der Werf (Margaret), Barnum; Mrs. Clarence Heikes (Jennie), Ellsworth; Mrs. Everett Shoemaker (Marie), Spring Lake Park, and Mrs. Charles Eves, (Henrietta), Lakewood, Calif.
She is also survived by 26 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren, and two brothers, John, Worthington, and Carl Klumper, Ogilvie.
She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, one sister and one great-granddaughter.
"I don't know how it started," said Van Der Werff's sister, Mrs. Todd (Sandy) Knutson of Hurley. "On New Year's Eve five years ago, he really got sick. We took him to the hospital, and they discovered that his blood count was really low. They found out that his kidneys were failing." Although his family doesn't know for sure, Carol Jean Van Der Werff believes her brother's kidneys may have failed because of an enlarged heart. "They didn't discover the enlarged heart until it was too late," she said.
Van Der Werff, 42, of 3104 S. Covell Ave, died Monday, Jan. 8, 1996, in McKennan Hospital because of kidney and heart failure. On his 40th birthday, Van Der Werff received a kidney from his sister Carol Jean of Sioux Falls. But, transplants don't always work. "There were several rejections and the medicine couldn't help," she said. Van Der Werff was placed on a kidney donor waiting list. While waiting for a new kidney, Van Der Werff attended the Kidney Dialysis Program at McKennan Hospital. He went to dialysis three days a week for four hours at a time. "He was pretty upbeat about it," Knutson said. "But, his life was restricted. He had a restricted diet."
"It puts things into perspective," Carol Jean Van Der Werff said of her brother's illness. She added that her family is close knit and that they centered their lives around her brother. Both of Van Der Werff's sisters said the dialysis unit was important to their brother's survival. "It's something that you can't live without," Kuntson said.
Van Der Werff was born Feb. 26, 1953, in Sioux Falls. He attended school in Barnum, Minn., Garretson and Lennox. In 1972, he graduated from Lennox High School. He later graduated from the Mitchell Vocational Technical School with a degree in cooking. He was employed as a cook at various places in Sioux Falls, including Westward Ho Country Club, Minerva's and Augustana College. He was a member of Sunnycrest United Methodist Church.
Services begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at Sunnycrest United Methodist Church, with a private burial. Visitation begins at 3 p.m. today at George Boom Funeral Home, with the family present 7 to 8 p.m. The family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to the Kidney Dialysis Program at McKennan Hospital.
-Obituary from Hills of Rest Memorial Park
