Kurvink, John, abt. 1860-1932

KURVINK, DEGROAT, VANGORKEN, THOMPSON, CHIPPERFIELD

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/18/2016 at 18:27:22

From the Hawarden Independent, August 25, 1932:

John Kurvink, who for many years lived at Rock Valley, passed away Thursday, Aug. 11th, at Cherokee, his death being due to heart failure. His remains were brought to Rock Valley for burial Sunday, Aug. 14th. Mr. Kurvink was about 72 years old. Besides his son, Ralph Kurvink of Hawarden, he is survived by six other children.

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There is a longer obituary in the Rock Valley Bee, August 19, 1932, but the paper is badly damaged and many pieces of the obituary text are missing. This is the gist of it:

John Kurvink, a well known resident of Rock Valley and vicinity for many years, passed away in the hospital in Cherokee, Iowa, last Thursday, his death being due to heart failure. He resided southeast of Rock Valley for many years, then moved into town and lived here for several years. A few years ago he was taken to the hospital in Cherokee, where he remained until his death. He was about 72 years old.

The remains were brought to Rock Valley for funeral services and burial. The services were held in the Methodist church Sunday afternoon.

Survivors include Fred in California and Ralph of Hawarden [text listing the others is missing]. He also leaves one brother, R. C. Kurvink of Sioux City, and two sisters, Mrs. Dykstra [Millie or Minnie] of Corsica, S.D., and Mary Sidney who lives in one of the western states.

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The Sioux County Cemetery Index has Kurvink, John, d. 11 Aug 1932 age 71, Valley View Cem Rock Valley.

He evidently spent his last years in the state mental hospital at Cherokee. A news note in the Alton Democrat of May 3, 1929, says that the aged John Kurvink of Sioux Center was taken to the Cherokee hospital; the Hawarden Independent of Oct. 3, 1929, reports that John DeKoster of Hull has been appointed guardian of John Kurvink, insane; and the Hawarden Independent of Nov. 7, 1929, reports that an order was signed authorizing trustees to sell real estate in the guardianship of John Kurvink, insane.

Iowa Marriage Records 1880-1937 on Ancestry.com show Jno. Kurvink, age 24, born Wisconsin, a Sioux County farmer, parents Rutloff Kurvink and Jane DeGroat, marrying Mary Van Gorken, age 19, daughter of Isaac Van Gorken and Mary Sakson[?], in LeMars, Iowa, June 5, 1882.

Mary (Marie) died in 1915 (see her obituary, posted separately). It appears that in July 1916 John almost married a young woman, Miss Eva Saint Louis of Montana, who he had hired as a housekeeper, but she backed out (Sioux County Index, July 21, 1916). On August 17 of that year, at LeMars, he married Lillian Thompson (Rock Valley Bee, Aug. 25, 1916), then divorced her in October on grounds of cruelty and adultery, accusing her of being a gold-digger (Sioux County Index, Dec. 1, 1916; LeMars Sentinel, Nov. 21, 1916; Hawarden Independent, Nov. 23, 1916). In April 1917, in Dakota City, Nebraska, he married "Mrs. Tripperfield" [i.e., Alma Chipperfield, a young widow] of Sioux Falls, who had been keeping house for him for the past two months (Rock Valley Bee, April 6, 1917). In these articles he is characterized as a wealthy farmer, one of Rock Township's wealthy citizens, and the owner of two fine farms east of Rock Valley as well as his residence in town. John and Alma had two daughters, Ruby and Virginia. She died in January 1932 (see her obituary, posted separately). A portion of his real estate was sold at a sheriff's sale in December 1933, the announcement for which lists a number of heirs, including Ruby and Virginia Kurvink and his children by his first marriage, with Alma's son Oscar Chipperfield as executor of her interest in the estate (Sioux Center News, Nov. 23, 1933).