Winnie Vander Vliet, 87, Hills, formerly of Luverne, died Monday, July 15, 2019, at the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills.
A funeral service was Friday, July 19, at the American Reformed Church in Luverne. Burial was at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne.
Winnie Van Holland was born Jan. 11, 1932, to Johannes and Grace (Teering) Van Holland on a farm between Rock Valley and Inwood, Iowa. She was only able to speak Dutch when she enrolled at Christian school. She then learned English and taught the language to her parents. She attended the Christian school through the eighth grade and graduated from Rock Valley public schools. During this time, she became a telephone operator.
On Nov. 29, 1950, Winnie married Cornelius “Cornie” Vander Vliet at the First Reformed Church in Rock Valley. The couple lived on Cornie’s parents’ homestead near Carmel, Iowa. Their marriage was blessed with seven children. In 1965 they moved to a farm near Rock Valley where they worked the land until 1967. They then moved to a farm near Luverne. In addition to farming and raising their family, Winnie worked as a nurse’s aide at the Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Home in Luverne for the next ten years. She then worked as a nurse supervisor at Habilitation Services Inc. for the next 23 years. Winnie retired in 2003 to care for her husband. Cornie died on Oct. 25, 2006. In 2010 Winnie moved into the Oaks Senior Living Apartments. In 2014 she moved to the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills.
Winnie was a member of the American Reformed Church in Luverne and was a spiritual life leader of Mary Circle for over 20 years. She enjoyed gardening, crocheting and knitting and made many blankets for her grandchildren. She loved playing the piano and spending time with her family.
Winnie is survived by her five children, Dwayne (Brenda) Vander Vliet of Luverne, Lois (Bruce) Beukema of Hayfield, Connie (Giles) Hudson of The Colony, Texas, Marilynn (Mark) Long of Larchwood, Iowa, and Debra (Rick) Renken of Omaha, Nebraska; a son-in-law, Craig Vastenhout of Kenneth; 17 grandchildren, David (Patti) Vander Vliet, Cory Vander Vliet, Brett (Denise) Vander Vliet, Amber Vander Vliet, Christy (Jeremy) Menning, Nicole (Brian) Larsen, Matthew (Becki) Beukema, Nickolas (Micah) Beukema, Rachel Beukema, Angela Hudson, Christin (Jordy) Smith, Joshua Hudson, Jason (Kayla) Long, Dan Long, Kristi Long, Mercedes Renken and Colton Renken; 22 great-grandchildren; four siblings, Gerrit (Marilyn) Van Holland of Rock Valley, Iowa, Dick (Ruth) Van Holland of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Joe (Gerry) Van Holland of Sioux Falls, and Mary Jacobsma of Brandon, South Dakota.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Cornie; a son, Larry Vander Vliet; and a daughter, Delores Vastenhout.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, www.hartquistfuneral.com.
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