Roberts, Frances Elizabeth Van Dyke 1923-2009

VAN HOEVE, ROMERS, VAN DYKE, DEREUS, ROBERTS, MESSENGER, LYNCH

Posted By: Gayle Van Dyke (email)
Date: 5/14/2013 at 14:48:42

Frances Elizabeth Van Dyke was named after her two grandmothers: Francoise Van Hoeve DeReus and Elizabeth Johanna Romers Van Dyke. She was born February 24, 1923 in Ankeny, Iowa, the fourth child and only daughter born to Jacob Arie Van Dyke and Barbara DeReus both of Pella, Iowa. She died October 30, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas.

By 1930, the family had moved to Kellogg. Fran was on the high school
basketball team and loved playing piano for school assemblies. She graduated
in 1940 and held the office of class secretary.

On December 6, 1941, Fran met William Wayne Roberts of Newton, Iowa on a
blind date arranged by his best friend. They married on December 1, 1943 at
the Kellogg Methodist Church. Wayne served in the Army Air Force during
World War II and Fran did her part for the war effort, packing .50 caliber
ammunition for a time. After the war was over, they lived in Newton for
several years.

Fran and Wayne were the parents of two sons, Jack and Jim, both born in Newton. In the early 1960s, Wayne moved his family to Texas. Fran dedicated herself to being a wife and mother, but when her sons were older, she worked as a State Farm insurance office manager. The Fort Worth area is where they retired and lived out the rest of their lives together.

Fran enjoyed pursuing her hobbies of furniture refinishing, knitting, sewing and needlework. She was very adept at creating needlepoint and crewel designs that she enjoyed giving as gifts to family and friends. For many years after moving to Texas, Fran and Wayne traveled back to Iowa in early June to see old friends during Newton's High School Reunion Weekend.

Fran was preceeded in death by her parents; three brothers: Gerald Keith in 1956; Merwyn Dale in 2003; and Edward Alvin in 1992; and Wayne, her husband of 63 years who died in 2007.

She is survived by her sons Jack (Kathy) Roberts and Jim (Sara) Roberts both of Fort Worth; four grandchildren Jennifer (John); Stacy, Lisa (Rick) and Cole; several nieces and nephews and two sisters-in-law, Helen (Messenger) Van Dyke of Newton and Myrtle (Lynch) Van Dyke of Johnston.

She is buried next to her husband at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Texas.

Note: Unpublished source written by niece, Gayle Van Dyke.