DeJong, Gloria E. (Mrs. Jay B.) 1937-2013

DEJONG, VANLAAR, MARRA

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - Volunteer (email)
Date: 4/28/2013 at 11:13:33

GLORIA E. DE JONG
January 2, 1937 - April 25, 2013

Mrs. Gloria De Jong, age 76, of Orange City, passed away on Thursday, April 25, 2013, at the Heritage House Nursing Home in Orange City.

There will be a funeral service on Monday, April 29, at 10:00am, at the Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Aldon Kuiper will officiate. Interment will follow at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City..

Gloria Ellen was born on January 2, 1937, in the Sacred Heart Hospital in Le Mars, the daughter of Nick and Jennie (Van Laar) Marra. She was raised at Alton and was the youngest of nine children. She attended school in Alton and worked in the Alton Bakery during high school.

On November 17, 1954, she married the love of her life, Jay Bertram De Jong, in Orange City. They made their home in Orange City, where they raised three children. Besides being a homemaker, she was a clerk at Vern’s Finer Foods, the S. & L. Department Store, and the Dutch Mill Pharmacy, all in Orange City. In later years, she suffered with pain and physical decline, all of which she endured with grace, dignity, and courage. In February of 2013, they both became residents of the Heritage House.

Mrs. De Jong was a member of the Calvary Christian Reformed Church. She had a strong faith and was a witness to her family and friends. In earlier years, she sang in church and at other events, as a soloist and in duets with J. R. Siebersma. Music meant a lot to her.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by five brothers, Wallace, Willard (Shirley), Everett (Georgia), Nick (Ruth), and Gary Marra; two sisters, Ada Marra and Vivian (Dick) Bronkhorst; and a niece, Phyllis Wolfe.

Survivors include her loving husband of more than 58 years, Jay; two
daughters, Sherry De Jong, of Carlsbad, California; and Sheila (husband, Tim) Cowles, of Sioux City; a son, Brian Jay De Jong, of Orange City; and two granddaughters, Brooke (husband, Jared) Donnelly and Audra (fiance’, Ronald Scott) Cowles; and two great-grandsons, Gavin and Evan, all of Omaha, Nebraska; a sister, Olva (husband, Lambert) Hollinga; a sister-in-law, Mary Marra; a brother-in-law, Hallard (wife, Shirley) De Jong; many nieces and nephews, including a special niece, Nan Reinking; and a special friend, Myra Bomgaars.
Source: Oolman Funeral Home, Orange City, IA., obit.