Wiersma, Marion 1915-2014

WIERSMA, HOFLAND, VANDER BURG, HEYNEN, KROEZE, VINK

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/29/2014 at 08:44:05

Obituary for Marion G. Wiersma

Mr. Marion George Wiersma, age 98, of Orange City, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Monday, August 25, 2014, at the Royale Meadows Care Center in Sioux Center.

There will be a memorial service on Thursday, August 28, at 2:00pm, at the Redeemer United Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Todd De Rooy will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a family prayer service on Thursday, at 1:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Wednesday, with the family present from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, at the funeral home.

Marion was born on December 18, 1915, in Sanborn, the son of George and Marie Helene (Hofland) Wiersma. A month later, his mother died from tuberculosis, so he was raised by Peter and Mary (Vander Burg) Wiersma in Orange City. He attended the Orange City Christian School and graduated from the Northwestern Academy in Orange City. He then worked in a furniture store and for an electrician.

In 1939, he began working at the Northwestern State Bank in Orange City. During World War II, to supplement his income, he also did bookkeeping at Pals Transfer in Orange City. At the bank, he started as a bookkeeper, then became a teller, and was an internal auditor when he retired in 1981, after a 41 year career.

On April 19, 1940, Marion married Antonia Wilhelmina Heynen in Sioux Center. They made their home in Orange City. “Minnie” passed away on January 19, 1983, in Hull, after more than 42 years of marriage.

On June 8, 1985, he married Gertrude Kroeze Vink in Orange City. They continued to live in Orange City. “Gert” passed away on January 2, 2008, in Orange City, after more than 22 years of marriage.

Mr. Wiersma resided at Crown Pointe Independent Living in Sioux Center from 2001 to 2011, until moving to Assisted Living and then to Royale Meadows on April 1 of this year.

Marion was a member of the First Christian Reformed Church in Orange City until 1994, when he joined Redeemer Church. After the United Reformed Church established a congregation in Sioux Center, he worshiped there. Throughout the years, he participated in many Bible studies and church activities. In the 1950s, in the early years of Dordt College in Sioux Center, he served on the Finance Committee.

Marion was an avid reader and also enjoyed gardening, hunting, and fishing.

Survivors include his two daughters and their husbands, Helena and Dr. Edwin Geels, of Laughlin, Nevada; and Francine and Pete Meenen, of Nashville, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Dr. Randall Geels, and his wife Sharon (Huisman), of San Diego, California, and their children, Jessica, Caitlin, Eric, and Shannon; Marc Geels, and his wife Sheri (Van Kalsbeek), of Sioux Center, and their children, Mackenzie, Shaniah, and DeAndre; Dr. Peter Meenen, of Huntsville, Alabama; and Paula (Meenen), and her husband, Zachary Huston, of Rome, Georgia, and their son, Elliot; many nephews and nieces; as well as two step-daughters and their husbands, Janice and Dick Van Deelen, and Betty and Dave Wieland, and many step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.

In addition to his parents and wives, he was preceded in death by his first wife’s brothers and sisters and their spouses, Grace (Heynen) and Sam Altena, Hilbert and Alice (Klein) Heynen, Daisy (Heynen) and John H. Den Herder, Tony and Hermina (Rens) Heynen, and Henry and Lenora (Vreeman) Heynen; and a special cousin, Sadie Wiersma, who was raised with Marion like a sister.

Source: Oolman Funeral Homes online obituary.