Bruinsma, Pearl, Mrs. Lane, 1907-2002

BRUINSMA, WESSELINK, SCHUT

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/13/2010 at 16:32:18

Pearl Bruinsma, 94, of Sioux Center, went to be with her Heavenly Father on April 10. She resided at the Sioux Center Community Hospital Nursing Wing.

Memorial service was Saturday, April 13, at 10:30 a.m. at First Reformed Church in Sioux Center with the Rev. Arnold Punt and the Rev. Harold Lenters officiating. Interment was in Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center.

Mrs. Bruinsma (Peeltje Wesselink) was born on November 14, 1907, at 543 Third Avenue NE in Sioux Center, the fourth of nine children and the second daughter of Henry W. and Hendreka (Schut) Wessellink. She was the granddaughter of Peter and Peeltje Schut, who were organizers of the First Reformed Church of Sioux Center. She graduated from Sioux Center High School in 1926. She then was a teacher in the West Branch No. 8 country school for one year.

When she was young, she watched her brother, Art, have an appendectomy at home. A nurse stayed with them, and she decided to make nursing her life's work. She left for nurses' training in 1927, at the age of 19. Her tuition was $50 for three years of training. She graduated from the Presbyterian Hospital of Nursing in Chicago in July 1931 with an RN degree. She first went to work in the Sheldon Clinic and Hospital and later in the Hull Hospital, with Dr. Gerrit Maris. During World War II, she worked for Dr. Bill Maris in his maternity hospital in Sioux Center. She helped many babies to be born in family homes, staying with them for a few days after the birth.

In 1952, she went to work at the new Sioux Center Community Hospital, starting by cleaning before the official opening. She helped up to four generations of the same family through the years. She retired at the age of 77, after 53 years of caring for patients. She was a caring and compassionate nurse, who was a true angel of mercy.

On December 27, 1934, she married Lane Bruinsma. They moved to a farm 2 1/2 miles west of Sioux Center, which was originally owned by her grandparents. In 1941, the couple opened their hearts and home and adopted a 1 1/2-year-old son, Lon James. In 1946, they adopted an eight-month-old daughter, Beth Henriette. Her husband died of cancer on August 31, 1971. She continued to live with her son on the farm until 1977, when she moved into Sioux Center. Her home was two blocks from the hospital, where she worked until 1984. She continued to knit baby caps for newborns at the hospital and especially enjoyed meeting monthly with her "oldies" nursing friends.

She was a lifelong faithful member of the First Reformed Church, where she was active in the Priscilla Circle.

Survivors include her son and his wife, Lon James and Judy Bruinsma, of Sioux Center; two step-grandsons and their wives; her daughter, Beth Henriette Padget, of Eunice, Louisiana; a grandson; a very special niece, Mrs. Merlyn (Linda) Rensink, of Sioux Center; a brother and his wife, Dr. Arthur and Fran Wesselink of Eagle Grove; two sisters, Alice Wells, at the Sioux Center Nursing Wing, and Alma Lyzen of Hull; and a sister-in-law, Mrs. John (Vera) Wesselink of Arizona.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by four brothers, Gerrit Wesselink and his wife, Marian, Peter Wesselink, John A. Wesselink and Edward Wesselink and his wife Joyce; a sister and her husband, Grace and Elmer Meridith; three brothers-in-law, Henry Beyer, Jess Wells and Gerrit Lyzen; and two grandchildren.

Memorials will be directed to the Sioux Center Community Hospital.

Source: Sioux Center News, April 17, 2002.
The obituary includes a photo.

A similar obituary was published in the Northwest Iowa Review, April 15, 2002. It adds that she was buried in the Peter Schut family plot at Memory Gardens Cemetery, under direction of the Oolman Funeral Home of Sioux Center. The names of her two deceased grandchildren are given as Michael Prins and Heather Pinion.