VanderPloeg, James 1911-1999

VANDERPLOEG, VANDERSCHAAF, RONS

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 11/2/2012 at 12:26:47

James Vander Ploeg
Sept. 27, 1911—May 16, 1999
James A. Vander Ploeg, 87, Sheldon, died Sunday, May 16, at his home.
Services were Tuesday, May 18, at United Methodist Church in Sheldon, with Dr. Tony
Nester, the Rev. Gary Vande Kamp and the Rev John McGuirk officiating. Burial was at
East Lawn Cemetery in Sheldon, under the direction of Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Sheldon James Vander Ploeg, son of Charles and Sadie (Vander Schaaf) Vander Ploeg, was born Sept. 27, 1911, in Sioux Center. He attended Sioux Center Public School, graduating in 1930. He attended Hohenshuh-Carpenter School of Mortuary Science in St.
Louis in 1931, and 1932. He married Janet Rons on Aug. 16, 1933, in Sioux Center. They moved to Rock
Valley, where they opened a furniture store and funeral home. In 1944, he purchased the Houlihan Funeral Home in Sheldon, where he operated as the Vander Ploeg Funeral Home. His son, Phil, joined him in 1961. He retired in April of 1968. Mrs. Vander Ploeg died April 14,1990, in Sheldon. He was a member of United Methodist Church in Sheldon and had served on the board of trustees. He also was past president
of the Sheldon Kiwanis Club and a member of the Rotary Club in Rock Valley, the F.O.E. #2297 of Sheldon, the Masonic Lodge in Sheldon, the Abu Bekr Shrine Temple in Sioux City and the Scottish Rite 32 degree of Sioux City. He had served as the O'Brien County coroner for nine years and was appointed to the State Board of Examiners for nine years. He was elected to the National Conference of Funeral Examiners, where he served for six years and the last year as president. He was honored by being appointed chairman of the American Board of Funeral Service Education. Survivors include a son, Phil and Jody of Sheldon; a daughter, Leah and Ben Rohwer of Big Stone City, SD; five grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Edith Kjerland of Kent, WA; and Eileen Hogan of Sister Bay, WI. He was preceded in death by his wife; a grandson, Mark Vander Ploeg; his parents; and two brothers, Art and Harold.
Source: Vander Ploegs Funeral Home, Sheldon, IA.,obit.