VAN ENGEN, Nellie 1926-2004

VAN ENGEN, DEBOER, KOOISTRA

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner (email)
Date: 9/27/2004 at 14:36:56

Nellie Van Engen, 78, of Rock Valley died Sunday, Sept. 5, 2004, at Valley Manor, Rock Valley.

Services were Friday at Trinity Christian Reformed Church, Rock Valley, with interment in Hillside Cemetery, Doon.

Nellie DeBoer was born March 23, 1926, near Hull, the daughter of Jelle and Effie (Kooistra) DeBoer. She attended Hull Christian School and later Rock Valley Christian School. The family moved near Doon in 1943.

On May 4, 1945, she married Harvey Van Engen at Doon. Nell lived with a sister and worked in Grand Rapids, Mich., while Harvey was serving in the army. The couple lived in Doon in 1946, moved Rock Valley in 1948 and to Hull in 1949. In July 1959, they moved to Inwood where they owned and operated Inwood Locker and Meat Market until retiring in 1979. After retirement, Nell and Harvey helped at their son's butcher shop in Sioux Center. In 1989, they moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., and were active with the Sowers Mission Organization from 1994-1998. Nell and Harvey moved to Rock Valley in 1999.

Survivors include her husband; four sons, Floyd (Mary) of Anoka, Minn., Bob (Joan) of George, Brian (Jan) of Willmar, Minn., and Douglas (Brenda) of Orange City; one daughter, Mrs. Jay (Marlys) Vander Pol of Bellevue, Wash.; 15 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Martin of White Cloud, Mich., and James "Bud" (Wilma) of Denver, Colo., and four sisters, Ann Hoekstra and Eunice DeWit, both of Grand Rapids; Mrs. William (Lynne) Bouseman of Denver, Colo., and Mrs. Don (Louise) DeWit of Rock Valley.