Van Weelden, Anna (Van Wyk) 1918-2009

VAN WYK, HOKSBERGEN, VAN WEELDEN, DE JONG

Posted By: Ernie Braida (email)
Date: 1/12/2010 at 20:51:37

Anna Elizabeth Van Wyk was born on March 29, 1918, on a farm south of Sully, Iowa. She was the eighth of eleven children born to Dick and Anna Hoksbergen Van Wyk.

By horse drawn buggy, Anna attended the Sully Christian Grade School through the 8th grade. At a very young age she learned to work, helping with the daily chores on the farm.

On December 3, 1937, she married Dick Van Weelden from Otley, Iowa at her parent’s home near Sully. They moved into their first home near Otley and later moved to farms near Leighton and then south of Pella, Iowa. Dick decided he was tired of moving around so they purchased a farm north of Sully where they raised their six children: Harley Blaine, Ronald Bryce, Verna Lou, Dwight Leon, Marsha Lynn and Curtis Lee.

Anna helped with the farming chores while raising a large garden to provide for the needs of their family. The family enjoyed visiting with neighbors and friends. Anna and Dick enjoyed traveling out west to the Black Hills and Yellowstone. In 1970 they built a ranch home west of the home place. After many years of hard work, they decided to move into Sully where they built a home on the west side of town.

Anna settled into town life enjoying going out with family and friends while Dick continued to work on the farm. Dick’s health then began to decline and he passed away on March 20, 1999, at the age of 83 years.

Anna continued to live in her home until her health declined. In November of 2003 she moved into Vriendschaap Village in Pella, Iowa and in October of 2005 became a resident in the Long Term Care Unit at the Pella Regional Health Center.

On Saturday morning, February 21, 2009, she passed away at the Hospice of Pella Comfort House a month before her 91st birthday.

Surviving are her six children and their spouses, 20 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren: Harley and Norma (Vander Streek) Van Weelden of Pella, Iowa, Ronald and Sandra (Willemsen) Van Weelden of Otley, Iowa, Verna and Arthur Zylstra of Pella, Iowa, Dwight and Jerilyn (Schmidt) Van Weelden of Lynnville, Iowa, Marsha Steenhoek of Ames, Iowa, Curtis and Amy (Smith) Van Weelden of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Of her original family Anna leaves one sister, Henrietta (Henry) Beyer of Pella; her three sisters-in-law: Anna Pauline (Lester) Van Wyk of Sully, Reva (Clarence) Van Wyk of Grinnell, Iowa, Hattie (Elmer) Van Wyk of Pella; and the following sisters-in-law: Tressie (Arie) Van Weelden, LaNora( Gysbert) Van Weelden, and Betty (Henry) Van Weelden all of Pella.

Anna was preceded in death by her husband, Dick Van Weelden; her parents, Dick and Anna Van Wyk; her parents-in-law, Arie and Artjie De Jong Van Weelden; three sisters and their husbands: Emma Van Wyk who died in infancy, Emma and Gerrit Jochems, Triny and Cornie Jansen; and six brothers and their wives: William D. and Nellie Van Wyk, Raymond and Dora Van Wyk, Louis and Christine Van Wyk, Lester Van Wyk, Clarence Van Wyk, and her brother-in-law, Henry Beyer.

Anna was a member of the Sully Christian Reformed Church in Sully for many years where she enjoyed Golden Hour and other women’s societies. After moving to Pella she joined the Calvary Christian Reformed Church. Anna always enjoyed visiting.

Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home