DeKoster, Dorothea L. Mrs. Lucas 1922-2011

DEKOSTER, VANDERSCHAAF, HYMANS

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg (email)
Date: 3/4/2011 at 02:55:06

Dorothea L. De Koster
January 11, 1922 - February 22, 2011
Mrs. Dorothea De Koster, age 89, of Hull, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, at the Sanford Hospice Centennial Cottage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She was the wife of the late Iowa State Senator Lucas J. De Koster.
There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, March 1, at 11:00am, at the American Reformed Church in Hull. The Rev. Steven Bierly will officiate. Interment will be at a later date at the Hope Cemetery in Hull. Visitation with the family present will be on Monday, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Hull.
Dorothea LaVonne was born on January 11, 1922, in Hull, the daughter of John and Kate (Vander Schaaf) Hymans. She enjoyed her large, close family, including many cousins in the area.
The Depression years took the family to live in South Dakota, where she excelled in school, beginning at the age of four and graduating at age 16. Better times brought them back to Hull, where she graduated from the public high school. After earning a two-year teaching degree at the Sheldon Junior College, she taught classes in a one-room country school in the Hull district.
The love of her life, Lucas, convinced her to retire from teaching and become his wife, marrying her on December 30, 1942, in Hull. With nearly all men away during World War II, she marched down the aisle to at least eight cousin bridesmaids singing "Here Comes the Bride".
They settled in Hampton, Virginia, where she briefly held a job as a singing telegram delivery person, usually bringing birthday or anniversary greetings. Their eldest child, Sarah Kay "Sally", was born there. After the war ended, they relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where two more children were born, Jacqueline Anne "Jackie" and John Gordon.
In 1951, the desire to be close to family brought them back to Hull, where two more daughters were added to the family, Claire Ellen and Mary Denise. After her children were in school, Dorothea finished a Bachelor of Arts degree at Northwestern College and began a law degree at South Dakota State University in Vermillion. For many years, she assisted in her husband’s law office during tax season.
Her final move was to Sioux Falls in December of 2006, so her daughter could oversee her care.
Her interests were many and varied. Family was of the utmost importance to her – anything from hosting or helping with extended family Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations to packing up the kids to go swimming at Sandy Hollow, near Sioux Center, Iowa, or even planning who was going to sit in which canoe for a paddle down the river, lovingly called "organizing to take all the fun out of it". An excellent cook, she made the world’s best cinnamon rolls for every Sunday morning breakfast, and when the cherries were ripe, the world’s best cherry pie for Sunday noon dessert. As a loving mother, she shared her interest in reading and playing cards and board games. Most of her life she raised succulent vegetables and beautiful flowers in her gardens.
Her strong faith led her to join churches in every place she lived, taking leadership in Christian education, women’s groups, and choirs. That was especially true at the American Reformed Church.
Travel was a passion for the whole family, beginning with family camping trips and extending later as a couple to visits to all fifty of the United States, all the Canadian provinces and Mexico, and on to all but the continents of Australia and Antarctica. A special trip in later years was spending time just after Christmas with her grandson and his family in Hong Kong.
With her husband’s election as a state senator, she got involved politically and enjoyed living part of the year in Des Moines, Iowa, maintaining friendships made there long beyond the years spent in the legislature.
Survivors include her five children, Sally (and Dr. Randall) Hart, of Oskaloosa, Iowa; the Rev. Jacqueline (and Frank) Thomas, of St. Joseph, Missouri; John (and Glenda) De Koster, of Hull; Claire (and Paul) Gillaspey, of Sioux Falls; and Mary Ness, of Albert Lea, Minnesota; twelve grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, on February 23, 2000, in Hull; a son-in-law, Phil Ness; two brothers, Hyman and Jim Hymans; and a sister, Claretta Konietzko.
Source: Oolman funeral Home, Orange City, IA, obit.