Henrietta Elbers, 87, Hills, died on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, at her home.
A funeral service was Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Christian Reformed Church in Luverne. Interment was at the Eastside Cemetery in Steen.
Henrietta Vanden Berg was born Feb. 14, 1932, to Teunis and Elizabeth (Nicolay) Vanden Berg in Pipestone County. She attended Country School District #21 and graduated from Edgerton Public High School in 1951. In 1953 she graduated from Northwestern Junior College in Orange City, Iowa.
Henrietta married Gilbert Elbers on Dec. 29, 1954, at First Christian Reformed Church in Edgerton. They farmed in the George, Iowa, and Steen areas for 38 years before moving into Luverne in January 1992. Henrietta taught school in the Leota and Hills Christian schools and was a para-educator at Hills Beaver Creek School. She also worked at Tri-State Insurance for a period of time. She enjoyed working with mentally impaired people. She was a program assistant at the Rock County DAC for 13 years, now known as RCO (Rock County Opportunities). The last three years of her working career were spent as a paraprofessional at the Luverne Public Schools.
Henrietta was a member of the Luverne Christian Reformed Church. She was a Sunday School teacher for many years and an officer of the Mary Martha Circle. She was a volunteer mentor in the “Friendship” program for 25 years. She volunteered for Coffee Break/Story Hour and several other community activities. She especially enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren.
Henrietta is survived by her husband, Gilbert; four children, Kevin of Luverne, Sharla (Dean) Broersma of Sunnyside, Washington, Keith (Annette) Elbers of Hills, and Kurtis (Lanette) Elbers of Steen; nine grandchildren, Kaitlyn (Patrick) Visscher of LeMars, Iowa, Marisa (Ryan) McNamara of Mesa, Arizona, Brittany (James) Vander Schaaf of Escalon, California, Emily Broersma of Sunnyside, Tyler (Kala) Bush of Hills, Brock Elbers of Las Vegas, Nevada, Whitney, Sean, and Lanae Elbers of Steen; four great-grandchildren, Micah, Malachi and Maybrie Bush of Hills, and Cade Visscher of LeMars; one sister, Johanna Sankey of Holland, Michigan; one brother, Lester (Beth) Vanden Berg of Edgerton; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; five brothers, Henry, Richard, Arthur, James and Jacob Vanden Berg; and a sister, Grace Schuit.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, www.hartquistfuneral.com.
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