Terpstra, Arnold W. 1928-2005

TERPSTRA, VISSER, HARRIS

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 6/28/2005 at 22:23:21

CLEAR LAKE — Arnold W. Terpstra, 76, of Clear Lake, formerly of Lynnville, died Friday, April 8, 2005, at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minn.

Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Lynnville Friends Church. Burial will be in Woodland Cemetery in Lynnville.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell, where the family will be present from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Memorial contributions may be directed to the Lynnville Community United Fund in c/o the Lynnville First State Bank.

The son of Arie and Rena (Visser) Terpstra, he was born Nov. 25, 1928, on a farm north of Lynnville. He attended Black Oak Country School and was a 1946 graduate of Lynnville High School. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in post-war Japan. On July 15, 1950, he married Ruth Harris in Mason City and the couple made their home in Lynnville. He and his brother Albert were owners of the Lynnville Seed Company from 1949 until Arnold's retirement in 1983. He and his wife later moved to Clear Lake in the mid-1980s.

Mr. Terpstra was an active member of the Lynnville Friends Church, a charter member and past president of the Lynnville Lions Club and past president and member of several organizations, including Lynnville-Sully School District, Lynnville Telephone Company, Iowa Seed Dealers Association, Western Seed Dealers Association and Grinnell General Hospital. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting, fishing, skiing and golfing.

Survivors include his wife; four sons, Douglas of Eau Claire, Wis., Mark of Perry, Steven of Cedar Rapids and Neal of Naperville, Ill.; one brother, Albert Terpstra of Lynnville; one sister, Alice LaRossa of Wichita, Kan.; six grandchildren; and two step-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, George and John Terpstra; and two sisters, Elizabeth Van Rees and Alma Terpstra.

Newton Daily News, Monday, April 11, 2005