Ongna, Lucille (Ludens) 1912-2002

ONGNA, LUDENS, TENDOLLE

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 8/7/2005 at 15:33:28

PELLA - Lucille Ongna, 90, of Pella, died Friday, April 26, in the Long Term Care Unit of Pella Regional Health Center.

Her funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Trinity Reformed Church in Pella, the Rev. Andy Kamphuis and the Rev. Henry J. Vermeer officiating. Burial: Oakwood Cemetery, Pella. Memorials: Reformed Church of America, Board of Pensions, or Crossroads Bible Institute. Visiting hours are open today and all day Tuesday at Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home in Pella, with family present 6-8 p.m. Tuesday.

Lucille Ludens was born Jan. 21, 1912, in Gibbsville, Wis., to James and Cynthia TenDolle Ludens. She attended Gibbsville Grade School and graduated from Cedar Grove Academy in Cedar Grove, Wis., in 1934. She enrolled in a couple of graduate courses.

On June 23, 1937, she married Reuben James Ongna in Gibbsville, Wis. In 1940, Reuben was ordained by Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich. He and Lucille worked as a team for 36 years in active ministry. They served pastorates in Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado, Washington and California, as well as Orange City and Leighton, Iowa; their final posting was the Raritan Reformed Church, and they retired in 1977.

They then moved to Pella. Reuben died Oct. 11, 1994. Lucille’s health began to decline in August 2001; she moved to the Long Term Care Unit of Pella Regional Health Center. She was an active member of Trinity Reformed Church in Pella, and also in Crossroads Prison Ministry. She served on the board of the Nadezhda Foundation, the mission of which was to feed widows and assist victims of the Chernobyl disaster in Belarus.

She is survived by five children and spouses: Ruth and Richard Hannan of Iowa City, Rodney and Bonnie Ongna of Pella, Philip and Terie Ongna of Oak Harbor, Wash.; Paul Ongna of Oak Harbor, Wash.; and Judy Becker of Dallas, Texas; five grandchildren; three great-grandsons: and a sister-in-law, Lucille Ludens of Gibbsville, Wis.
She was preceded in death by her husband; two brothers: Harold H. and Marvin Ludens; and a grandson, Steven M. Ongna.

The Oskaloosa Herald, April 29, 2002