Vanderwal, Gertrude (Van Houweling) 1900-2001

VANDERWAL, VAN HOUWELING, DYKSTRA

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 8/8/2005 at 22:22:25

PELLA - Gertrude (Mrs. Ray) Vanderwal, 101, of Pella, died Wednesday, Oct. 10, in the Long Term Care Unit of Pella Regional Health Center.

Her memorial service will be 11 a.m. Saturday at the Second Reformed Church in Pella, the Rev. Steve Mathonnet-Vanderwell officiating and the Rev. William Paul assisting. Private burial will precede the memorial service at Oakwood Cemetery in Pella. Memorials: Second Christian Reformed Church, Pella. Visiting hours at Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home in Pella begin this evening and continue all day Friday, with family present 6:30-8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Gertrude Van Houweling was born July 15, 1900, on a farm east of Otley to Anthony T. and Paulina Dykstra Van Houwelinge. Her mother died in 1910. In 1912 her father married Julia Van Zante. Gertrude received her formal education at the Otley School and graduated from Central Academy. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central College in 1922. She taught Physics and mathematics in Owasa for two years and then taught at West Union Community Schools in West Union, where she met Ray Adrian Vanderwal.

They were married on July 30, 1924. They later moved to Montezuma, where Ray was school superintendent for 37 years.

They were members of the Presbyterian Church where Gertrude was a soloist and Sunday school superintendent. She was one of the first women to be a deaconess and elder. She was a member of a study club in Montezuma, and participated in the Poweshiek County Farm Bureau Chorus.

In 1963 Ray retired and they moved back to an acreage on the north edge of Pella. They retained a strong interest in agriculture and were avid conservationists. Ray "Rack" died Aug. 21, 1979. Gertrude moved to Pella Community Nursing Home in October 1998, and recently to the Long Term Care Unit of Pella Regional Health Center. Gertrude was a member of the Second Reformed Church in Pella, where she was in the quilting group, the Ladies Aid and the Missionary Circle. She was a member of a Dutch club, the American Legion Auxiliary, Fortnightly Literary Club and P.E.O. Chapter BU. She was known for her canning skills and talents as a seamstress as well as for her tatting, crocheting and quilting.

She is survived by three daughters and a son-in-law: Trudy Glaman of Minneapolis, Minn., Jo Harmeling of Pella, and Alice and Robert Hawley of Clear Lake; nine grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband; two sons-in-law: Charles F. Glaman and John W. Harmeling; a grandson, Gregory W. Hawley; her parents; her stepmother; three sisters in infancy, Anna, Anna and Gertrude; and four brothers and sisters-in-law: Albert O. and Marie Van Houweling, Gerard and Frances Van Houweling, Abram and Henrietta Van Houweling and Marion and Gertrude Van Houweling.

The Oskaloosa Herald, October 12, 2001