Arnold Michael 'Mike' Van Dee, 22 Jun 1937 - 28 May 2021

VAN DEE, HOLDERNESS, COLLETT, DIXON, JONES, PAHL, STEICHEN, MOELLERS, MARTENS, MENDENAHLL, BROWN, MAHAN, HOTCHKISS, MCGEE

Posted By: Sarah Witte (email)
Date: 6/3/2021 at 10:35:39

Arnold Michael "Mike" Van Dee, 83, of Cedar Rapids, passed away on May 28, 2021, in Cedar Rapids. A visitation will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, at the Cedar Memorial Chapel Stateroom. Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. June 3, at the Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories. A livestream of the funeral service may be accessed on the funeral home website under the obituary for Arnold "Mike" Van Dee, under the video tab starting at 11 a.m. on June 3.

Mike was born June 22, 1937, to Augustine Joseph and Margaret Mary (Holderness) Van Dee in Iowa City, Iowa. After graduating from Williamsburg High School, he joined the U.S. Army on July 10, 1956, and attended basic training in North Carolina. He was in the 229th Signal Company and was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. He was honorably discharged on Sept. 16, 1959, from Fort Sheridan, Ill., as a Specialist 4. He landed his lifelong career at Collins Radio (Rockwell Collins) in 1959 and retired in 1992.

He married the love of his life, Beverly Ann Collett, on Oct. 19, 1960, in Marion, Iowa.

He was a passionate collector and could often be found at the auction, the campground or any family gathering. He was a guaranteed supporter of all his families sporting, choir or school activity. He was strong, kind and loving. His family meant more to him than anything else in the world. Everyone knew he was the most loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and great-grandfather a family could ask for.

He is survived by his children, Barb (Rob) Dixon, Doug (Renita) Van Dee and Tina (Darryl) Jones; grandchildren, Matt (Theresa) Dixon, Nick (Gretchen) Dixon, Cassie Pahl, Justin (Hallie) Van Dee, Christian Van Dee and Kit Jones; Kami (Ryan) Steichen; great-grandchildren, Kaleb, Morgan, Katie, Pacience, Bridget, Genevieve, Raegan, Daniel, Jonathon, Aiden, Briar, Ryker and Bexley; siblings, Florence (Robert) Moellers, Sarah Martens, Carl (Sandy) Van Dee and Helen Mendenhall; and mother-in-law, Sarah Lemira (Jameson) Collett.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; grandson, Josh Dixon; siblings, Mary Brown, John, Ida Mahan, Grace Hotchkiss, Betty McGee, Andrew, Edward and Donald; and father-in-law, Raymond Collett.

Online condolences may be left at www.cedarmemorial.com under obituaries.

Published in The Gazette on May 30, 2021 and in The Hometown Current on June 2, 2021.