VanVoorst, Kenneth D., 1921-2001

VANVOORST, GARTHWAITE, HENDRICKS, HOOGENDORN

Posted By: Lydia Lucas-Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/25/2011 at 06:33:11

ROCK VALLEY, Iowa - Kenneth D. Van Voorst, 79, of Rock Valley died Friday, Sept. 28, 2001, at Hegg Memorial Hospital in Rock Valley.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at First Reformed Church in Rock Valley, with the Rev. Mike Van Hemersveld officiating. Burial will be in Valley View Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday afternoon, with the family present 2 to 3:30 p.m., at Porter Funeral Home in Rock Valley.

Kenneth Van Voorst was born Nov. 4, 1921, in Matlock, Iowa, the son of Gerrit A. and Vivian (Garthwaite) Van Voorst. He graduated from Hills (Minn.) High School in 1939. Kenneth worked at his father's blacksmith shop and for local farmers after graduation. Kenneth joined the U.S. Navy in September 1942, where he served on the USS North Carolina in the South Pacific. After his honorable discharge from the Navy in December 1945, Kenneth returned to Sioux Falls, S.D., to apprentice in Jon's Shoe Shop as a shoemaker.

Kennthe married Viola Hendricks/Hoogendorn on Oct. 15, 1946, on the Hendricks/Hoogendorn farm near Luverne, Minn. Together they moved to Rock Valley in July 1947, and purchased the shoe store which they called Van's Shoe Store. They operated the store until 1984, and then Kenneth did upholstery repair until his retirement in 1991.

Kenneth served as a leader in both the local and also district Boy Scouts of America troops, community affairs and the Commercial Club of which he was a past president. Kenneth enjoyed raising rabbits, camping and fishing with family and friends and especially taking the Scouts out on trips.

Surviving relatives include his wife, Viola of Rock Valley; two daughters and their husbands, Mary Ellen and Robert Miller of Des Moines, and Ruth Elaine and David A. Popkes of Sheldon, Iowa; two sisters and their husbands, Marjorie and Donald Kolbert of Stewartville, Minn., and Viola and John Fritz of Cannon Falls, Minn.; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; four nephews and two nieces. Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents.

Source: Sioux Center News, October 3, 2001.