BLEEKER, Evert 1841-1931

BLEEKER, HEIKENS

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 6/12/2015 at 07:26:55

Old Resident Dies Leaving 105 Descendants

Evert Bleeker Passes Away at Home of Daughter-in-law Saturday

Evert Bleeker died at the home of his daughter-in-law Mrs. Hilko Bleeker, six miles northwest of Wellsburg Saturday morning, January 10th. He had been sick but a week with pneumonia before the end came. Mr. Bleeker was in his ninetieth year though up to his recent illness he had been able to get about his daily duties in spite of his advanced years.

Mr. Bleeker is survived by an unusually large number of descendants. There are eight children, 48 grandchildren, and 49 great-grandchildren. We do not know of any larger group of descendants from one family tree.

Funeral services were held at the Christian Reformed church west of Wellsburg Monday with the local pastor, Rev. H. C. Bode, officiating. The grandsons of the deceased were the pall bearers. They were John and Evert Bleeker, Evert and Robert Thoren, Harm Muhring, and Gus Rindels.

Obituary
(By Rev. H. C. Bode)
Evert Bleeker was born September 23, 1841, at Wiebelsum, Germany, and passed away in Clay township, Hardin county, Iowa, in the early morning of Jan. 10, 1931, reaching the ripe old age of 89 years, 3 months and 18 days.

He was married to Antje Heikens Sept. 19, 1864, who preceded him in death on March 14, 1905, at Renville, Minn. Eleven children were born to this union, seven sons and four daughters: E. E. Bleeker of Fortoria; George of Hope, N. Dak.; Heye and Harry of Grundy county; Hilko, now deceased; Heye Harry and Harm both died in infancy; the daughters are Mrs. P. E. Muhring; Mrs. Abe Thoren; Mrs. John Temple and Mrs. G. Rindels, all of Grundy Center. Aside from the children there are 48 grandchildren and 49 great-grandchildren.

The last 10 years he lived with his daughter-in-law, Mrs. H. Bleeker, six miles northwest of Wellsburg, where he was tenderly cared for.

He served as elder of the Renville Christian Reformed church and of the College church at Grundy Center. He was a faithful member of the First Wellsburg Christian Reformed church. He put many a younger person to shame in church attendance. The Sunday before he became ill he was in church twice.

Mr. Bleeker came to the United Stated in 1868. During the first six years he was in this country he lived on a farm near Pekin, Ill. In 1874 he and his family moved to Grundy county where they remained until 1903 when they removed to Renville, Minn. Four years later Mr. Bleeker returned to this locality and spent the remainder of his life here among his old friends and neighbors.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 January 1931, pg 12