De Vries, Harold 1918-2005

DE VRIES, VAN ZANTE, BOERTJE, VANDER WEERDT, LOURENS, BYMA, DYKEMA

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 12/5/2005 at 15:49:04

PRAIRIE CITY — Harold De Vries, 87, of Pella, formerly of Prairie City, died Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005, at Hospice of Pella Comfort House.

Funeral services will be Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the Christian Reformed Church in Prairie City. Burial will be at Waveland Cemetery.

Visitation is scheduled from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday at Coburn Funeral Home in Prairie City, where the family will be present from 2 to 4 p.m. Memorials may be given to the Prairie City Christian Reformed Church or Hospice of Pella Comfort House.

The son of Andrew and Nellie (Van Zante) De Vries, he was born April 10, 1918, in rural Vandalia. He graduated from Prairie City High School in 1936. On Dec. 11, 1940, he married Christina Boertje in Prairie City. He farmed throughout Jasper County and most recently west of Prairie City for 22 years before retiring and moving into Prairie City in 1978.

He enjoyed doing odd jobs around town and especially doing electrical work. He also drove a school bus for several years. He moved to Fair Haven in Pella in 2002 and to Long Term Care in June 2005.

Mr. De Vries was a member of the Prairie City Christian Reformed Church. He was active in the Jasper County Farm Bureau and Interstate Producers Board.

Survivors include two daughters, Ruth (Leonard) De Vries of Pella and Margaret (Leon) Vander Weerdt of Sully; two sons, John H. (Phyllis) De Vries and Melvin (Kaylene) De Vries, all of Prairie City; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren; three sisters, Esther Lourens of Monroe, Leona (Clarence) Byma of Sunnyside, Wash., and Margery Dykema of Strasburg, N.D.; a brother, John Martin (Celia) De Vries of Pella; and two sisters-in-law, Mable De Vries of Otley and Martha De Vries of Altoona.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; an infant son, John Charles; a grandson; a granddaughter; and three brothers, Paul, Lester and Edward.

The Newton (IA) Daily News, Friday, November 18, 2005