VanderSchaaf, Mrs. Robert (Esther) - 1920-2001

VANDERSCHAAF, KEIZER, STILLWELL

Posted By: Linda Vander Linden-Volunteer (email)
Date: 4/26/2013 at 12:22:47

Sioux County Capital, June 7, 2001

Alton-Esther Lydia Vander Schaaf, 80, Alton, died Tuesday, May 29, at Orange City Municipal Hospital Long-Term Care Facility.

Services will be 10:30 a.m., today Saturday, June 2, at the Alton Reformed Church, with The Rev. Stephen Veldhuis officiating. Burial will be at Nassau Township Cemetery near Alton, under the direction of Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Esther Vander Schaaf, daughter of John C. & Martha Etta (Stillwell) Keizer, was born Aug. 11, 1920, in Alton. She was raised in Alton, where she graduated from Alton High School in 1938. She then attended Northwestern College in Orange City. She was secretary for Charles B. Hoeven in Alton and later was assistant clerk at Sioux County Selective Service office in Orange City. She married Robert Samuel Vander Schaaf on May 10, 1943, in Alton. After his discharge from the U.S. Navy, she helped him operate the Floyd Hatchery in Alton for 12 years. They moved in 1958 to Holland, MI, where she worked as a saleswoman while he attended Western Theological Seminary from 1958-1961. After his ordination, she helped her husband as he pastored Immanuel Reformed Church in Belmond, 1961-1970, and Trinity Reformed Church of Fulton, IL, 1970-1985. They then retired to Alton.

Over the years, she was a Sunday School teacher and a Bible School teacher and was involved in small group ministries at various churches. She was a member of Alton Reformed Church, where she belonged to the Mary Circle. She enjoyed reading, gardening, dining out and corresponding with the many friends she had made through the years. She also took great delight in her family. She enriched many lives and will be greatly missed.

Survivors include her husband, Pastor Bob Vander Schaaf Sr.; a daughter, Rachel & Richard Aalbers of Mount Vernon; a son, Pastor Bob Vander Schaaf, Jr. of Volga, SD; six grandchildren; a great grandson, and a brother, Gerald & Marie Keizer of Alton.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter-in-law, Bonnie Vander Schaaf; her stepfather, Theodore Hansma; a brother & sister-in-law, Edward Bently & Sena Keizer, and an infant sister, Evelyn.