VanderMeer, Margaret (1909-2008)

VANDER MEER, TUYNMAN, REILLY, CONRY, ALBRECHT, SAVAGE, KELLEY

Posted By: Mary Holub, volunteer (email)
Date: 6/17/2008 at 09:41:42

From: Le Mars Daily Sentinel, June 16, 2008

Margaret Vander Meer, 98, of Le Mars, died Friday June 13, 2008, at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars, following a brief illness.

The former Margaret A. Tuynman, a triplet, was born Dec. 6, 1909, on a farm near Rock Valley, was one of eight children of Peter Edward and Hannah (Reilly) Tuynman. She graduated from Rock Valley High School and received a two-year teaching certificate from the Iowa State Teachers College. Margaret taught in a one-room schoolhouse for five years.

She married Peter Arie Vander Meer on Aug. 1, 1934, in Rock Valley, and moved to Le Mars where her husband opened the Vander Meer Bakery.

Margaret was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Christian Mother's Society and Catholic Daughters of America. She was active in Girl Scouts for more than 30 years. She enjoyed gardening, sewing and reading, and she instilled her great love of nature in all of her children. Margaret was an active volunteer at the Plymouth County Home for many years, where she directed weekly craft activities.

Survivors include her eight children: Peter (Laura) Vander Meer, Jr. of Le Mars, Mary (Ken) Conry of Waukee, Bill (Eileen) Vander Meer of Ankeny, Evelyn (Jim) Albrecht of Burnsville, Minn., Tom (Barbara) Vander Meer of Great Bend, Kan., Jim (Carolyn) Vander Meer of Fairfield, OH, Anne (Joe) Savage of Sarasota, Fla., and Dorothy (Mike) Kelley of Des Moines; 29 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings; her husband Pete on Sept. 24, 2003; and a granddaughter, Atea Savage.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Le Mars with the Rev. Kevin Richter as celebrant. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery in Le Mars. Visitation at the Feuerstein Funeral Home in Le Mars will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, where there will be a combined rosary by the Christian Mother's Society and Catholic Daughters of America at 6:30 p.m. and a Scriptural wake service at 7 p.m. There will also be one hour of visitation at the Church on Wednesday before the Mass.

Pallbearers will be Steven Vander Meer, Dennis Vander Meer, Kevin Conry, Patrick Vander Meer, David Albrecht and Michael Vander Meer.

A memorial fund will be established in her name with the Girl Scouts of America.