Van Elswyk, Leo – 1931-2009

DEKKER, FOX, RUIGHAVER, SAUDER, VANELSWIJK, VANELSWYK

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 8/10/2009 at 21:42:28

Leo Van Elswyk, 78, of Newton passed away on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009, at Park Centre in Newton.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at the First Presbyterian Church, 220 N. 2nd Ave. E. in Newton. The family will greet friends from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the church.
Memorials are being accepted to the Iowa Health Foundation — John Stoddard or to the First Presbyterian Church. Memorials may be left at the church during the times of the visitation or the funeral service or at the Wallace Family Funeral Home.
Leo was the son of Bastian and Adriana Wilhelmina (Dekker) van Elswijk, born on April 6, 1931, in Hazerwoude-Dorp, Netherlands.
Leo served his country in the U. S. Army where he was a demolition specialist during the Korean War. He was a member of the Hanford McNider Branch of the 2nd Infantry Division.
On Oct. 6, 1962, Leo was united in marriage with Ruth Ann Fox in Newton.
Leo worked through and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 347, retiring in 1991. He served as a Jasper County Supervisor for 12 years, serving from Jan. 1, 1991, to Dec. 31, 2002.
Leo was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and the Men’s Fellowship; he had also been a member of the Community Reformed Church where he had served as an elder, deacon and a Sunday school teacher; he had been a Troop Leader of Boy Scouts of America Troop 388 sponsored by the Community Reformed Church, IBEW No. 347 for 50 years, American Legion Post 111, the 40 & 8, and a past member of the Honor Guard, Newton Rotary Club and the Emerson Hough Chapter of the Izaak Walton League.
Leo developed the Oakridge Apple Orchard northwest of Newton and the Promised Land Retreat and Noah’s Ark Petting Zoo on Highway 6 West, west of Newton. Many volunteers from Jasper County participated in the presentation of the passion play, “At His Feet” on the biblical grounds. Leo will be missed by his family and many, many friends.
Survivors include his wife, Ruth Ann of Newton; son, Peter Adrian Van Elswyk of Iowa City; daughter, Ann van Elswijk (Jerry Sauder) of Seattle, Wash.; his granddaughter, Winnie van Elswijk-Sauder of Seattle, Wash.; and sister, Jopie Ruighaver-van Elswijk of Beestercwaag, Netherlands.
He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and five sisters.
Source: Newton Daily News; Wednesday, August 5, 2009