Kempenaar, Wilbert A. 1908-2001

KEMPENAAR, VANDE LUNE, TAGGART, LOOS

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 8/8/2005 at 21:59:16

Wilbert A. Kempenaar, 93, of Grinnell and formerly of Oskaloosa, died Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the Mayflower Home in Grinnell.

His funeral service will be 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Garland-VanArkel-Langkamp Funeral Chapel in Oskaloosa, Pastor Bob Morris officiating. Burial: Wymore Cemetery in Monroe Township, Mahaska County. Visiting hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at the funeral chapel, with the family greeting visitors from 1 p.m. Sunday until service time. Memorials: charity of the donor's choice.

Wilbert Albert Kempenaar was born Jan. 5, 1908, to Marius J. and Ella Vande Lune Kempenaar in Pella. He was a 1925 graduate of Cedar High School, and attended William Penn College and the University of Iowa School of Pharmacy.

He married Ruth Elizabeth Taggart on Dec. 24, 1932, in Manhattan, Kan. She died April 26, 1980, in Mesa, Ariz.

He married Grace Loos on Sept. 17, 1981, in Carbondale, Ill. He owned and operated White Castle Inn on High Avenue in Oskaloosa, and Kemp's Hamburger Inn in Knoxville. In 1937 he moved to Oskaloosa and farmed five miles southeast of Oskaloosa until 1941. He then moved to Oskaloosa and was employed at the post office until retiring in 1973.

He was a member of Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa, and was a 50-year member of Tri-Luminar Lodge No. 18 A.F. & A.M. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and card-playing. He was a Boy Scout leader and assisted five local boys in earning their Eagle Scout awards. He was a Silver Beaver Boy Scout leader.

He is survived by his wife, Grace, of Carbondale, Ill.; a son and daughter-in-law: John Wayne and Susan Kempenaar of Edina, Minn.; a daughter and son-in-law: Donnis and Jack Grier of Marshalltown; four grandchildren: Jeffrey King Kempenaar of Minneapolis, Minn., Craig Wayne Kempenaar of Lake Orion, Mich., Alison De Hart of Newton and John Grier of Western Springs, Ill.; and seven great-grandchildren: Wayne Michael Kempenaar and Christina Parrinello of Lake Orion, Mich., Paul and David De Hart of Newton, and Katie, Maggie and Sarah Grier of Western Springs, Ill.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Ruth; a brother, Ralph; and a grandson, Douglas Grier.

The Oskaloosa Herald, December 14, 2001