Far north section along road. Row 31 from the east road Florida Ave
George Van Roekel Dies At Alton
Mr. George Van Roekel passed away very suddenly at his home near Alton on January 28, 1945 at the age of 45 years.
He is survived by his wife and three children, Audrey who is a cadet nurse at Iowa City, and Robert Dick and Shirley at home. Also two sisters Mrs. John B. Mouw of Carmel and Mrs. C. A. Kuyper at Sioux Center and four brothers John of Sioux. Center, Otto of Orange City, Albert of Sioux Center and Dr. Henry of Amherst, Mass.
His parents and two brothers William and Chris Van Roekel both of Sioux Center preceded him in death.
Funeral services were held on Monday afternoon, Jan. 29, 1945 at the First Reformed Church at Orange City with the Rev. Onga officiating. Interment was made at the Orange City cemetery.
Mr. Van Roekel was born at Sioux Center on April 28, 1899 and was a graduate of the Sioux Center high school. On Feb. 26, 1922 he was united in marriage to Miss Arabella Ruisen of Orange City. The family was making their horne on a farm between Orange City and Alton at the present time.
Sioux Center News 1945-02-01.
Mrs. Arabella Spijker, age 90, of Orange City, passed away Monday, May 18, at the intermediate care facility in the Orange City Municipal Hospital.
Arabella was born June 28, 1901, at Alton, the daughter of Dick and Annie (Kuyper) Ruisch.
She graduated from the Alton school and then taught piano lessons. She later worked for the Orange City Postmaster and the Sioux County Engineer.
On February 24,1922, she married George G. Van Roekel at Orange City. They farmed between Alton and Orange City. He passed away January 26, 1945, at Alton.
On December 15, 1945, she married Sip Sipma at Nashua. They eventually moved to Orange City. Mr. and Mrs. Sipma did much travelling. He passed away April 10, 1966, at Orange City.
On October 10, 1980, she married Simon Spijker at Orange City. He passed away November 8, 1987, at Orange City. In the fall of 1988, she became a resident of the hospital.
She was a member of the Trinity Reformed Church and a former member of the American Reformed Church, both in Orange City.
She had a tremendous love for music and participated in church choirs, as well as the Sioux County Farm Bureau chorus. She also performed in community productions, including Tulip Festival shows.
Through the years, she represented Stanley products, was hostess at the Holland House in Sioux Center, and reported the Orange City news on KIWA radio in Sheldon.
She was currently coordinating the Sunday afternoon worship services at the hospital.
Survivors include her three children, Audrey and her husband, Herbert Preul of Cincinnati, Ohio; Robert Van Roekel and his wife, Rachel, of Alton; and Shirley and her husband, Dan De Ruyter, of Sioux Center; three step-daughters, Marge Roghair of Bellflower, California; and Carol and her husband, Harvey Vander Pol, and Shirley and her husband, Arthur Vogel, all of Orange City; six grandchildren, nine greatgrandchildren; and many step-grandchildren, step-great-grandchildren, and step-great-greatgrandchildren.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by three siblings in infancy.
Funeral services were held Thursday, May 21, at the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, with the Revs. Donald De Glopper and Robert Hector officiating. Interment followed at West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City, under the direction of the Van Etten-Oolman-Van Gelder Funeral Home of Orange City.
Siouxland Express 1992-05-27.