Eppink, Henrietta, 1907-2001

EPPINK, BEYER

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/19/2010 at 20:58:48

Dr. Henrietta Eppink, 93, of Sioux Center died Saturday, May 12, 2001, at the Sioux Center Community Hospital. A funeral service was held on Wednesday, May 16 at 4:00 p.m. at the First Reformed Church in Sioux Center. The Rev. Gregory Alderman officiated. Burial followed at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center under the direction of the Oolman Funeral Home (Vander Ploeg Chapel) in Sioux Center.

Henrietta was born Oct. 29, 1907, at rural Sioux Center, the daughter of John W. and Minnie E. (Beyer) Eppink. She was raised at Sioux Center where she graduated from high school in 1925. She then was a teacher in a country school near Carmel.

In 1928, she entered the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago, Ill., graduating in 1931. After working as a private duty nurse in Chicago for a year, she was employed in the maternity department of the New York City Hospital. She also completed courses at Columbia University Teachers' College.

During World War II, Henrietta served with the Ninth General Hospital of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, she returned to the New York Hospital for two years and then attended the University of Washington in Seattle. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and education and her Master of Science degree in nursing.

She then was an instructor in nursing at Broadlawns Hospital School of Nursing in Des Moines for three years. For the next 24 years, she was an instructor at the Michigan State University School of Nursing, teaching maternal-child nursing. While there, she established a library, which bears her name.

During this period, she took courses at M.S.U. and earned her Doctor of Education degree at Wayne State University. In 1976, she retired to Sioux Center.

Dr. Eppink was a member of the First Reformed Church where she taught Sunday School classes and sang in the choir. Over the years, she funded many scholarships for nursing students and later for students at Northwestern College in Orange City.

Survivors include two sisters, Wilemina J. Eppink of Sioux Center and Lydia A. Mol of Fennville, Mich.; a brother and his wife, Herman J. and Beth Eppink of Danville, Ill.; three nieces, Constance J. Kamer of Hudsonville, Mich., Betty A. Wilhelmson of Mahonet, Ill., and Judith K. Sickmeir of Westville, Ill.; and two nephews, Norman J. Mol of Silver Springs, Md. and Kenneth D. Mol of Holland, Mich.

She was preceded in death by two sisters, Ann Eppink and Alice Eppink; and a brother, John Eppink. Memorials may be directed to the church.

Source: Sioux County Capital Democrat, May 17, 2001.
The same obituary was published in the Siouxland Press (May 16, 2001), and a slightly shorter one in the Sioux Center News (May 16, 2001).