Terpstra, Leon Wayne 1969 - 2008

BLOODSWORTH, ELSLOO, VEENSTRA, DIELEMAN

Posted By: Al Hibbard (email)
Date: 6/17/2021 at 19:00:18

Leon Wayne Terpstra was born November 29, 1969 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He passed away at the Pella Hospice Comfort House on Friday, April 11, 2008 at the age of thirty-eight.

Leon was adopted by Chester and Wilma (Dieleman) Terpstra on January 20, 1970 through Bethany Christian Services. Leon was welcomed home by two older sisters, Cheryl and Sandy, who were also adopted previously through Bethany. Leon was raised in a loving Christian home on a farm south east of Peoria, Iowa. He was a baptized member of Peoria Christian Reformed Church and participated in its Sunday school and Cadet programs. He also was a member of the Richland Rustlers 4-H Club and enjoyed entering various livestock, mechanical, and gardening projects at the Mahaska County Fair. He attended Peoria Christian Grade School and graduated from Pella Christian High School in 1988.

One of Leon's passions was cars so he enrolled in Auto Body Repair at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. He received his Auto Body diploma in 1989 and began employment at Breen and Bloodsworth (later known as Tom's Collision) in Pella, Iowa. He was employed there eighteen years and became very skilled at his trade. He especially enjoyed painting race cars.

On October 19, 1990 Leon was united in marriage with Amy Bloodsworth in Pella, Iowa. The couple was later divorced.

Leon continued to live in Pella until 2003 when he moved to an acreage near Galesburg, Iowa. He raised horses for a short time and enjoyed the "country life." Leon attended the Heartland Reformed Church in Pella, Iowa. Leon's interest and hobbies were racing cage carts, dirt biking, watching races, trapping, hunting, and target shooting with the Marion County Sportsman's Club. Leon took great pride in being a volunteer member of the Pella Fire Department. He was assigned to assist with the Jaws of Life because of his knowledge of cars. Most of all he enjoyed the "brotherhood" he had with all the members.

Those left to remember his life are his two sisters and their husbands; Cheryl and Craig Elsloo and Sandra and Cory Veenstra; his nieces and nephew: Heather, Jon, and Megan Elsloo and Kayla and Courtney Veenstra; numerous aunts and uncles; and special friends, Tom and Shirley Bloodsworth and Denny and Nancy Bouwman, all of Pella.

Preceding him in death were his parents: Chester and Wilma Terpstra; and his grandparents: Elmer and Emma Dieleman and Frank and Pearle Terpstra.

[Garden Chapel Funeral Home web site]