VanDyke, Garrett J., 1921-1991

VANDYKE, WESTRA, BERGESON

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/7/2013 at 22:57:46

Garrett J. Van Dyke, 70, of Spirit Lake, died unexpectedly March 27, 1991 at his winter home in Clearwater, Fla. Services were held Tuesday, April 2 at First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake. The Rev. Walter Hamer officiated. Burial was in Spirit Lake Memorial Gardens under direction of the Turner Funeral Home of Spirit Lake.

Mr. Van Dyke was born Jan. 16, 1921 in Larchwood, the son of John and Dora (Westra) Van Dyke. He married Percella Bergeson April 28, 1945 in Canton, S.D. The couple lived in Tucson, Ariz. for two years and returned to Iowa to farm at Inwood and Larchwood. In 1953 he joined Farm Bureau Insurance and in 1954 he moved to Spirit Lake where he was agency manager. In 1959 he opened his own agency. Following an aneurism in 1981, he was forced to retire.

Mr. Van Dyke was active in civic affairs. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church where he served as deacon and elder. He was past president of the Iowa Great Lakes Board of Realtors, past president of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board of directors for Camp Foster YMCA. He was a committeeman for the Boy Scouts and was active in the Good Neighbor Fund, Heart Fund and Cancer Fund. He had been a member of Kiwanis since 1955.

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Gail Dobbins and her husband Mike of Normal, Ill.; a son John and his wife Lauren of Minnetonka, Minn.; five grandchildren, Stephen, Melissa and Jason Dobbins and Lindsay and Kelsey Van Dyke; and five sisters, Johanna Kleinwolterink of Orange City, Margaret Franken of Sioux Falls, S.D., Pearl Kooima of Hawarden, Dorothy Fedders of Rapid City, S.D., and June Ver Burg of Inwood. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant brother, Duane.

Source: Sioux County Capital, April 4, 1991.

The obituary was also published in the Alton Democrat (April 4).