Lourens, Ben 1911-2003

LOURENS, VAN DUSSELDORP, VAN ZEE, VANDE LUNE, KOONCE, VAN PEURSEM

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 6/24/2005 at 17:02:07

PRAIRIE CITY – Ben Lourens, 92, of Prairie City, died Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the First Reformed Church in Prairie City with the Rev. Doug Dobbie officiating. Burial will be at Waveland Cemetery in Prairie City.

Friends may call Friday at the Walters-Coburn Funeral Home in Prairie City where the family will be present from 6 to 8 p.m. Memorials will be accepted to the First Reformed Church in Prairie City.

The son of Albert and Aartje Lourens, he was born Jan. 13, 1911, in Veenendal, Gelderland, The Netherlands. He came to America at the age of 2 with his family. On Feb. 25, 1937, he married Gertrude Van Dusseldorp in Monroe. They farmed a number of years near Prairie City and Runnells before moving to Prairie City in 1984. During his retirement, he enjoyed woodworking and gardening.

Survivors include his wife; two sons and daughters-in-law, Larry and Joyce and Leslie and Ruth, all of Altoona; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; a brother, George of Cambridge; three sisters, Gertrude Van Zee of Pella, Bertha Vande Lune of Grand Rapids; Mich., and Elizabeth Koonce of Santee, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Ronald; six brothers, Peter, Gerrit, John, Albert, Orie and Guert, Lourens; and a sister, Jeanette Van Peursem.

Newton (IA) Daily News, Thursday, November 20, 2003