Vogelzang, Rhonda (Mrs. Mark) 1954-2015

VOGELZANG, HUIZENGA

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting (email)
Date: 2/13/2015 at 07:53:19

Our beloved mother, wife, sister, and daughter, Rhonda Lynne Vogelzang, 60, of Scarborough, Maine and recently of Jericho, Vermont, died peacefully on February 7, 2015, surrounded by her family at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House. She had faced lung cancer for two and a half years with serenity, grace, and uncomplaining determination. A private burial at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Saco, Maine took place on February 9. We will celebrate her life with a memorial service on February 28 at 1pm at Park Street Church in Boston, where all are welcome.
Rhonda was born in Orange City, Iowa, on May 19, 1954. She graduated in 1976 from nearby Dordt College with a degree in music and a teaching certificate. Rhonda married her beloved husband Mark Vogelzang on June 4, 1977. They raised five children in their 37+ years together: Robin Marie, Daniel Mark, Sarah Lynne, Aaron David, and Benjamin Lee. They also opened up their home as foster parents to a number of children, including Jack Castonguay and Troy Sweet. She taught for two years at Western Christian High School, where she directed choir and orchestra, and spent two summers in post-graduate coursework in music history at the University of Washington. In 1980, Rhonda and Mark moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Rhonda established her own piano teaching studio and served as organist at State Street Church. Starting in 1984, living in Paoli and Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, Rhonda taught music full-time at Delaware County Christian School, again gave private piano lessons, and directed the choir at Trinity Christian Reformed Church.
When the family moved again to Vermont in 1993, Rhonda didn’t miss a note – launching a piano studio, teaching at the middle and high schools, and blessing Jericho Congregational Church for sixteen years as organist and director of music. When Mark and Rhonda spent a year in Washington, DC, Rhonda embarked on a personal research project transcribing early American hymns she found at the Library of Congress, preparing them for her own choirs. Also during this time, Rhonda was elected to serve on the Dordt College Alumni Council for two terms.
Finally, Mark and Rhonda came to Maine in 2012, where she loved walking on the nearby beach, enjoying the marsh and wildlife, in a place where she could host her growing family, and be close enough to babysit new grandkids. She underwent treatment at Dana Farber Cancer Institute of Boston and at the New England Cancer Specialists of Maine. Though travel was a challenge as time went on, she was still able to visit Belgium, Iowa, Chicago, Bermuda, Austin, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Florida, and traveling brought her great joy. And of course, her eleven grandchildren were the light of her days: Gabriel, Eloi, and Julian; Tyler, Collin, and Annalise; Andrew, Isaac, and Hannah; and Eden and Olivia.
Rhonda had a radiant spirit and a beautiful voice, both in song and speech. A woman of deep faith in the Lord, she had an astute mind, was a gifted teacher and accompanist on piano and organ, and conducted her choirs to great heights on Sunday mornings. She led youth groups, men’s singers, women’s choirs, chicken pie supper choirs, and family devotions in song. To know Rhonda was to be graced by her ready smile and exuberent laugh. She continually served others as they gathered around her piano, her kitchen and her home. She helped everyone around her find the music in their hearts, always with the aim of reflecting the glorious love of Jesus.
She is survived by her husband Mark; her children, daughters- and sons-in-law Robin Vogelzang and Martí Grau of Leuven, Belgium; Daniel and Jennifer Vogelzang of Cambridge, Mass; Sarah and David Jones of S. Hamilton, Mass, Aaron and Alisha Vogelzang of Hamilton, Mass, and Benjamin Vogelzang of Austin, Texas; her eleven grandchildren; her mother Helen Huizenga of Orange City, sisters Brenda Dokter of Sioux Center, Stephanie Wilson of Shakopee, Minnesota, and a large extended family. Rhonda was preceded in death by her father Elmer Huizenga in 2008.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Jericho Congregational Church Music Fund, PO Box 1022, Jericho Center, VT 05465-1022.

Source: Cote Funeral Home online obituary.