De Vries, John Martin 1929-2015

DE VRIES, VAN ZANTE, VAN ZEE, MENNINGA, UMBLE, GULBRANSON, GELDER, DYKEMA, LOURENS, BYMA, JABAAI, VERMEER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 2/24/2016 at 18:42:49

John Martin De Vries
Pella, Iowa
(Age 86)
August 16, 1929 - December 21, 2015

John Martin De Vries was born August 16, 1929 near Monroe, Iowa to Andrew and Nellie (Van Zante) De Vries. He grew up in the Prairie City area and graduated from Prairie City High School in 1947. John Martin was baptized and made profession of faith in the Christian Reformed Church at Prairie City.

On October 27, 1950 he was united in marriage to Celia Van Zee, daughter of Antonie and Hattie (Menninga) Van Zee in the Ebenezer Reformed Church in Leighton, Iowa.

The following summer John Martin was drafted into the Armed Forces where he served in Korea in the 44th Engineer Construction Battalion until his discharge in 1953. After returning to the states, he began farming in the Leighton area and also worked at the local garage. While at Leighton, John Martin and Celia were blessed with a daughter Connie LuAnn and a son Michael Jay.

In 1958 they moved to a farm southwest of Prairie City where they farmed until 2004 when they moved to their home in Pella. John Martin was a longtime, faithful member of the First Reformed Church in Prairie City and presently a member of Covenant Reformed Church in Pella. He served as deacon and elder, and also served with Gideons International and for several years served on the State Cabinet of Gideons International. John Martin and Celia enjoyed traveling to most of the states, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and John Martin also spent two weeks in Thailand distributing God's word with 30 other Gideons from other countries.

John passed away on December 21, 2015, at the age of 86. He was a loving husband to his wife Celia for 65 years. He was also a great father and grandfather to his daughter Connie (Joe) Umble of Torrington, WY, their children Levi (Amber) Umble of Mitchell, NE and Lacey (Rusty) Gulbranson of Sidney, NE; and to his son Mike (Patty) De Vries of Prairie City, IA and their children Mindy (Brian) Gelder of Ames, Iowa and Jay (Julianna) De Vries of Prairie City, IA. He enjoyed spending time with his great grandchildren Haylee and Hayden Umble, Jasper and Jade Gulbranson, Jaylyn, Jessalyn, and Jayannalyn De Vries, and Elia Gelder who all survive him. He is also survived by a sister Margery Dykema of Hague, ND and two sisters-in-law, Martha De Vries of Ankeny, IA and Nancy Van Zee of Oskaloosa, IA as well as many nieces and nephews.

John Martin was preceded in death by his parents, his parents-in-law, brothers Harold (Christine) De Vries, Ed (Mabel) De Vries, Lester (Beulah) De Vries, and Paul De Vries and sisters Esther (Orie) Lourens, Leona (Clarence) Byma, Martha De Vries and a brother-in-law Harold Dykema. Also preceding him in death were his brothers-in-law Arthur (Delia) Van Zee, Raymond Van Zee and Marvin Van Zee and sisters-in-law Leona (Leonard) Jabaai, and Patsy (Byron) Vermeer. ~ The Garden Chapel Funeral Home, Pella, Iowa 21 Dec 2015.