Byker, Dorothy Mrs. Henry John 1920-2011

BYKER, VANKLEY, VANIPEREN

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg -volunteer (email)
Date: 2/12/2011 at 20:32:33

Dorothy Byker
October 31, 1920 - February 4, 2011
Mrs. Dorothy Byker, age 90, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, February 4, 2011, at the Sanford Senior Care in Sheldon.
There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, February 8, at 4:00p.m., at the First Christian Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Harlan Van Oort will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a prayer service on Tuesday, at 3:00p.m., at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.
Dorothy was born on October 31, 1920, near Alton, the daughter of Schalk and Dora (Van Kley) Van Iperen. She was the second youngest of ten children and was raised in the Alton area. As a young woman, she graduated from beauty college in Sioux City and then opened her own beauty shop in Hospers.
On October 17, 1947, she married Henry John Byker in Sheldon. They lived on various farms during their married life, where Dorothy worked side by side with her husband. In 1981, the couple moved to Orange City. On January 27, 1992, John passed away in Orange City, after more than forty-four years of marriage.
Dorothy continued farming, with the help of family, until 1993. For a time, she was also a "grandma" for Headstart, helping children on and off the bus at daycare and pre-school. In 2003 she became a resident of the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community and later transferred to the Heritage House Nursing Home, both in Orange City. In 2007 she moved to the Sanford Senior Care.
Mrs. Byker was a member of the First Christian Reformed Church, where in earlier years she had been involved with the ladies aide.
Known for being a hard worker, Dorothy enjoyed her time on the farm, particularly raising
animals and driving the tractor. In later years, she liked to dote on her grandchildren, who knew her to have a sweet tooth.
Survivors include her two daughters, Terri, and her husband Larry Kasten, and her daughter Lacey Sievers, all of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Tammy Byker, of Alton, and her children, Brandy, and her husband Casey Muecke, of Hinton; Farrah, and her husband Travis De Jong, of Orange City; Dustin Vander Wel, of Worthington, Minnesota; and Stephanie Vander Wel; and Ciera Vander Wel, both of Alton; four great-grandchildren, Shae and Kylie Muecke; and Jasmine and Taten De Jong; and numerous nephews and nieces.
In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by five brothers, Oren, Henry, Peter, Steven, and Burton Van Iperen; and four sisters, Gertrude Harmelink, Nell Van Oort, Anne Jiskoot, and Jennie Ver Mulm.
Source: Oolman Funeral Homes, Orange City, IA., obit.