Arie Quirinus Kroeze 1924-2006

RINK, KROEZE

Posted By: michael (email)
Date: 4/6/2006 at 09:42:14

Arie Quirinus Kroeze, 81, of Iowa City, died peacefully Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at Mercy Hospital.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday, April 7, 2006 at 10:00am at St. Wenceslaus Church with Rev. Michael Phillips officiating. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. Friends may call Thursday from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service where the Knights of Columbus will recite a Rosary at 4:00 and a Parish Vigil Service will be held at 8:00. Memorial donations may be made to the Catholic Community Foundation for Regina or the Iowa Arboretum.

Arie was born December 23, 1924, the second oldest of nine children born to Johannes and Alida Elizabeth (Rink) Kroeze in Beesd, Holland. He married Antonia (Toni) Versteegh on June 27, 1953 at St. Martin’s Church in London, Ontario.

He worked the family fruit farm until WWII, when he was taken by the Nazis to work as forced labor in their locomotive camps. When Holland was liberated, so was Arie, yet it took him six months to get home. Arie worked again in the fruit business, but needed more room to “grow” and moved to Iowa City,. where an old neighbor from Holland had settled.

Arie was President of Pleasant Valley Garden Center, Flower Shoppe and Golf Course. Arie came to Iowa City with two suitcases, $200 and a horticulture degree from Geldermalsen, a technical school in Holland. He worked as a grower at the once Aldous Greenhouse on Dodge Street. In the 50 plus years since he has been in Iowa City, he has touched so many people with his work ethic, his need to give back to his church, his ability to make this part of the world a prettier place and his positive spirit and drive in everything he was involved in. Arie worked on projects from the initial construction of ACT and Hancher Auditorium to the beautification of hundreds of homes in and around Iowa City. His own home is a showcase of his love of plants, flowers and their arrangement in a yard or garden.

In his later years, he took up the game of golf, playing mostly on his own course, Pleasant Valley Golf Course. They both loved to travel, in the U.S. and back to where their families were from, Canada and Holland. Arie looked forward to the winter escapes but always enjoyed returning home to Iowa in the spring.

Arie loved his family most of all, and was always ready to help where he was needed and lend advice in business matters. He was a huge supporter of Regina High School and loved to watch the Hawkeyes. Arie took great pride in the fact that his children carried on his work in their own businesses. Six grandkids meant showing up for ball games, music performances and grandparent’s day at Regina. Some days he would sit in the rain to watch a soccer game, or watch endless softball and basketball games. He was always encouraging the next generation to work hard, not give up and get good grades in school.

Arie was a member of St. Wenceslaus Church, where he had served on the parish council, Iowa City Noon Rotary, the Knights of Columbus Council 842 and Bishop Cosgrove Assembly 4th Degree, and the National Golf Owner’s Assn. He had served on the Johnson County Board of Review, the Catholic Community Foundation and was Past
President of the Iowa Arboretum. He was a member of the Iowa Nursery and Landscape Assn. Hall of Fame and was recipient of the Association’s Merit Award.

Arie is survived by his wife of 52 years, Toni; his two children, Aleda (Kerry) Feuerbach and their children Jessie, Katie and Missie and Richard (Jane) Kroeze and their children Chelsea, Ryan and Matthew; two brothers Everett (Willy) Kroeze of Cedar Rapids and Rie (Truis) Kroeze of Holland; sister Willy Kroeze of Holland; a sister-in-law, Nolda Kroeze of Iowa City; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Arie was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers Cor, Wim, Jan, Alex and one sister Marie.

He will be missed, but his legacy will live on.

On-line condolences may be directed to www.lensingfuneral.com