Rowenhorst, Willard D. 1933-2010

ROWENHORST, VANDERWILT, BOLKS

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - Volunteer (email)
Date: 9/9/2010 at 00:30:54

Willard D. Rowenhorst
February 7, 1933 - August 22, 2010
Mr. Willard Rowenhorst, age 77, of Orange City, passed away on Sunday, August 22, 2010, at the Orange City Area Health System Hospital.

There will be a memorial service on Thursday, August 26, at 11:00am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Dr. Perry De Groot and the Rev. David Ter Beest will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a prayer service on Thursday, at 10:00am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Wednesday, with the family present from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the funeral home.

Willard Dean was born on February 7, 1933, in Orange City, the son of Henry and Kathryn (Vander Wilt) Rowenhorst. He attended the Newkirk School through the tenth grade and then graduated from the Orange City High School.

On July 16, 1954, he married Marlys Mae Bolks at the First Reformed Church in Hull. From 1954 through 1956, he served in the United States Army, stationed in San Antonio, Texas, and Darmstadt, Germany. They then lived in Sioux City until 1959, when they moved to Orange City.

There "Will" owned the Tastee Freeze Drive-In and later, he opened the IGA Grocery Store with Lloyd De Jong. Following that, he found his life’s work of selling Pioneer Seed Corn, where he relished visiting with the farmers and participating in their harvests.

He was a member of the First Reformed Church, where he served as a deacon and an elder. From 1977 to 1999, he was also a member of the board of directors of the Iowa State Bank in Orange City.

Mr. Rowenhorst enjoyed playing baseball and was a skilled first baseman. He played for the Orange City Legion team, and was on the army baseball team while stationed in Germany. After moving back to Orange City, he played for the church fast-pitch softball team. He avidly followed and supported all the Northwestern College football and basketball teams and was always ready for a game of cards.

Grateful for having shared in his life are his wife of more than 56 years; two daughters and their husbands, Roma and Robert "Bob" Visser, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Tamra "Tami" and Martin "Marty" Guthmiller, of Orange City; five grandchildren, Whitney, and her husband, Scott Westphal; Ben Visser; and Jameson, Brett, and Casey Guthmiller; and two brothers and their wives, Merlyn and Marie Rowenhorst, of Orange City; and Don and Sylvia Rowenhorst, of St. Paul, Minnesota.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Hannah Rae Guthmiller.
Source: Oolman Funeral Home obit.