VERMAAS, Martin R. 1925-2017
VERMAAS, IMES, TRAPP
Posted By: K.L. Kittleson
Date: 6/13/2017 at 20:12:48
U.S. VETERAN
Martin R. Vermaas
Died: June 4, 2017
Services:
Celebration of Life services will be held towards the end of summer at Calvary Bible Church in WashburnCemetery:
Firth Cemetery, Firth, NebraskaMemorials:
Calvary Bible ChurchBiography--
Martin R. Vermaas, 91, of Evansdale, Iowa, died at home Sunday, June 4, 2017.
He was born September 12, 1925 in Beatrice, Nebraska, son of Corniel and Hazel Imes Vermaas, and graduated from Beatrice High School in 1943.
He married Bernice Trapp November 28, 1943, in Marysville, Kansas. She died March 7, 2013.
Martin served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and received the Purple Heart for his injuries at Iwo Jima. Following recovery, the troops were being prepared to enter Japan when the war was abruptly ended with the bombing of Hiroshima.
He worked for the Army Corp of Engineers beginning in Omaha in 1957. In 1970 he was transferred to San Francisco and in 1976 to Winchester, VA. From there he was sent to Saudi Arabia from 1984-1987. At that time he and his wife were also commissioned by their church as undercover lay missionaries. He retired in 1987 and moved to Evansdale to be closer to family.
He and his wife continued as active volunteer missionaries in the Cedar Valley. As members of their son-in-law’s church, Calvary Bible in Washburn, he taught Adult Sunday School, a deacon, and was church treasurer. He and his wife volunteered at Newel Post, Ravenwood Care Center, and Harmony House where he conducted Bible study and she sang and played her accordion.
He is survived by his daughter, Gloria (James) Goering, Waterloo; son, Stephen Vermaas, Omaha, NE; daughter, Susan (Rik) Reuter, Evansdale; son, Timothy (Susan) Vermaas, Athens, TN; daughter, Carol (Amal) Bejjani, Lincoln, NE; 15 grandchildren: Angela (Michael) Fitzpatrick, Jessica Wood, Victoria (Andrew) Jergenson, Josiah (Hannah) Goering, Jimmy (Jill) Vermaas, Melody (Scott) Hecht, Tonya (Craig) Kohler, Lindsay (Tyler) Andrews, Amber (Ryan) Duff, Tiffany (Eric) Reuter, Kris (Chantal) Reuter, Shannon (Jonn) Schultz, Amanda Bejjani, Matthew Bejjani, and Rachel Vermaas; and 23 great-grandchildren: Ashley, Hayley and Madison Fitzpatrick; Bradley and Caleb Wood; Hunter, Tanner and Madisen Vermaas; Carrisa (John) Bunk; John, Josh, Anna Marie, Jacob and Ella Hecht; Timothy and Dawn Kohler; Christian and Isabella Jergenson; Audrey and Avery Duff; Julia Andrews; Jack Schultz; and Greta Goering.
Martin is preceded in death by his sister, Donna Stock; daughter‑in‑law, Kathy Vermaas; and brother, Gaylord Vermaas.
SOURCE: Locke Funeral Home website
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