Viola M. Uithoven, 87, Luverne, died Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, at her home at Good Samaritan Communities – Poplar Creek Estates in Luverne.
A private family service was Saturday, Oct. 17, with burial following at Memory Gardens Cemetery near Luverne.
Memorials may be directed to Client Community Services Inc. – Hamilton House in Worthington (son Glen’s care facility) or to the Minnesota Veterans Home in Luverne.
Viola Mae Van Roekel was born on April 24, 1933, to Abraham and Martha (Van Wyk) Van Roekel on the farm near Sioux Center, Iowa. When she was in third grade, her family moved to a farm her father had purchased located two miles west of Beaver Creek. She attended school in Beaver Creek and graduated with the class of 1950. Following high school, she worked as a Realtor for a year in Luverne.
Viola married Marcus “Mike” Uithoven on Dec. 18, 1951, at the Valley Springs Reformed Church. Mike left for the service in January of 1952, and Viola moved to be near him at Fort Knox, Kentucky, during basic training. When he left for Korea, she returned to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she lived with a girlfriend and worked at the office of Hossenstein Steel. In the fall of 1953 Mike returned home and they lived and farmed near Valley Springs for the next eight years. The couple then moved to Beaver Creek where they farmed for six years before settling in Luverne in 1968. Viola was a homemaker for her family and later began a home day care that she continued to operate for the next 22 years. Mike and Viola both retired in 1996 and began spending winters in Mesa, Arizona, and summers at their lake place in Lake Benton.
Viola was a member of the American Reformed Church in Luverne. She taught Sunday School and helped with youth programming in her younger years. She enjoyed sewing, golfing, listening to music, entertaining, and traveling. She and Mike traveled extensively, and she especially enjoyed a trip to Holland where she met members of her extended family. She also cherished the times she and Mike shared with other families on his softball team outings.
Viola is survived by her husband, Mike, of Luverne; five children, Gary (Marcia) Uithoven of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Greg (Marilyn) Uithoven of Magnolia, Leanne (Jim) Zarling of Fairmont, Glen Uithoven of Worthington, and Lisa Uithoven of Omaha, Nebraska; 10 grandchildren, Heather (Jeff) Andre, Shannon Uithoven, Megan (Chad Sieddel) Uithoven, Marcus Uithoven (fiancée Ashlee Placencio), Adam (Linda) Uithoven, Annie (Nick) Bork, Aric (Cassie) Uithoven, Kathryn (Billy) Moses, Tom Siebert, and Zeven Sanders; 20 great-grandchildren; three siblings, Robert (Jenny) Van Roekel of Brandon, South Dakota, Donald (Verlys) Van Roekel of Surprise, Arizona, and Roger (Mary) Van Roekel of Beaver Creek; and other relatives.
She was preceded in death by her parents and grandchildren Amanda Uithoven and Shawn Uithoven.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, www.hartquistfuneral.com.
(1022 F)