VanderKooi, Paul W. Dr. 1939-2010

VANDERKOOI, KEUNING, KOLENBRANDER

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/6/2010 at 05:16:15

DR. PAUL W. VANDER KOOI
Dr. Paul W. Vander Kooi, age 70, of Orange City, passed away on Saturday, January 2, 2010, at the Heritage House Nursing Home in Orange City, following a long illness.
A service celebrating his life will be on Saturday, January 9, at 11:00 a.m., at the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Jonathan Opgenorth and the Rev. Raymond Weiss will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a prayer service on Saturday, at 10:00 a.m., at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.
Visitation will be after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, with the family present from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the funeral home.
Paul Willis was born on February 2, 1939, in Clifton Springs, New York, the oldest child of the Rev. Willis J. and Jennie (Keuning) Vander Kooi. He lived with his family in Ontario, New York, Chancellor and Amherst, South Dakota, and Herman, Minnesota. He graduated from the Herman High School in 1957.
He attended Central College in Pella, graduating in 1961, magna cum laude, with a degree in chemistry. A graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Medicine in 1965, he was elected to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
He married Marilyn Kolenbrander, whom he met at Central College, on June 29, 1962, in Middleburg, Iowa. They resided in Minneapolis, while he finished medical school. Following an internship in general practice medicine at Broadlawns Hospital in Des Moines, he was drafted and served two years in the United States Public Health Service on the Papago (Hohokam) Indian Reservation in Arizona.
Dr. Paul, as he was known to patients and staff, joined the Orange City Medical Clinic in 1968, where he was a general practitioner and anesthesiologist. He found his greatest satisfaction and joy in caring for his patients. He served on the hospital board of directors beginning in the early 1970s through 1987, retiring from medicine in 1994. He was a member of the Sioux County Medical Society and a life member of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
He was a member of Trinity Reformed Church where he served as an elder, and taught adult Sunday school and youth Catechism classes. He was an active member of the Lion's Club and a charter member of the Dutch Heritage Boosters.
Dr. Paul was widely-read, especially enjoying history, philosophy and science. Every family vacation included a visit to a university book store to stock up on textbooks. He liked to play and watch sports, including slow pitch softball, volleyball, and golf. He played Bridge, gardened extensively, and liked to travel. He taught himself the Dutch language and Morse code, and listened to nightly Dutch broadcasts on a shortwave radio he built. He also repaired small appliances for patients and co-workers.. He was particularly interested in the history associated with the Dutch Heritage Boosters, and researched and wrote articles on Orange City history.
Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Marilyn; his two daughters, their husbands, and four grandchildren: Annette and William Minnick, and children, Noah Vander Kooi and William Paul, of Orange City; and Sara and Kevin Huyser, and children, Nathan Paul and Elizabeth Anna, of Papillion, Nebraska; as well as his father, the Rev. Willis J. Vander Kooi, of Broomfield, Colorado; and brothers, sisters, and their spouses, John (Verna), of Akron, Ohio; Jane, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Carl (Mary), of Cedar Falls; Lois (Neil), of Broomfield; and Ruth (Steve), of Louisville, Colorado. He and his youngest sister, Ruth, share the same birth date, 21 years apart.
His mother, Jennie Keuning Vander Kooi, preceded him in death.
Memorials may be directed to the patient's library at the Orange City Area Health System or a charity of the donor's choice.
Source - Oleman Funeral Home obituary