Muilenburg, Nelson A. 1918-2005

MUILENBURG, POPMA, SIEBERSMA

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 3/2/2010 at 06:31:04

NELSON A. MUILENBURG
Mr. Nelson Muilenburg, age 86, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, May 13 , 2005 at the Orange City Municipal Hospital. There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, May 17, at 11:00am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Steven Vander Molen will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a family prayer service on Tuesday, at 10:00am at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City. Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Monday, with the family present from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at the funeral home. Nelson Alfred was born on November 23, 1918, in Orange City, the son of John A. and Jennie (Popma) Muilenburg. He was raised at Orange City, where he graduated from the Orange City Public High School. On April 22, 1938, he married Hermina Siebersma in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They made their home in Orange City. During World War II, he served in the United States Army. "Nels" was first a baker at the Council Oak Store. He then was a partner in the Self-Serve Grocery Store. In the early 1950s, he built and opened the ABC Grocery Store, all in Orange City. A few years later, he started another grocery store in Sioux Center, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Steve Siebersma. In 1964, he retired from the grocery business, and began working for the Maurice-Orange City Community Schools, as a custodian and bus driver. He retired from those positions in the early 1980s. Nels and Hermina then wintered in Arizona for nineteen years. Mr. Muilenburg was a member of the First Reformed Church, where he had served on the consistory as an elder. He also belonged to the Pressman-Kosters American Legion Post in Orange City. He enjoyed watching all kinds of sports, especially baseball games involving the New York Yankees, and he was a strong supporter of local high school athletics. He was also an avid bowler and liked gardening. Survivors include his wife of 67 years; four sons, John Muilenburg, and his wife, Mary, of Woodbury, Minnesota; Rod Muilenburg, and his wife, Pat, of Storm Lake; Conrad Muilenburg, and his wife, Bonnie, of Silverthorne, Colorado; and Lee Muilenburg, of Sioux Falls; eleven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren; and a sister, Eunice Huitink, of Orange City. He was preceded in death by five brothers, Anthony, Frank, Howard, Elmer, and Marion Muilenburg; and three sisters, Gertrude Van Gorp, Margaret Van't Hof, and Henrietta Stander.
Source: Oolman Funeral obit.