Nieuwenhuis, David Sr. 1940-2016

NIEUWENHUIS, JACOBSMA, REIMANN, BLACK, THOMAS, CANTRALL

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 10/24/2016 at 13:04:01

Mr. David Nieuwenhuis, age 76, of Hospers, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, October 8, 2016, at his residence of heart failure

There will be a memorial service on Wednesday, October 19, at 2:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City. The Rev. Michael Hardeman will officiate.

David Gene was born on May 24, 1940, in Hospers, the son of Gerrit Nelson and Isabelle Victoria (Reimann) Nieuwenhuis. He was raised in Hospers and graduated from the high school, where he was a starting member of the 1958 basketball team that went to the state tournament. He also graduated from the Northwestern Junior College in Orange City, where he belonged to the state championship basketball team.

On May 4, 1960, he married Hortense “Bub” Jacobsma of Hospers. They made their home in Orange City, where he was employed by Duven’s Electric and Appliance. In 1964, they with their son, Todd, relocated to Bellflower, California, and he was a purchasing agent for Leonard’s Department Store.

On July 12, 1969, “Dave” married Ellen Agnes Black, of Redondo Beach, California. They made their home in Anaheim, California. In 1979, they with their two sons, David, Jr., and Daniel, moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, where he was a salesman for Custom Line Cabinets. In 1984, they transferred to Santa Rosa, California, where Ellen passed away of cancer in 1997.

In July of 1998, he began working at the J. Thomas Art Gallery with Vickie (Thomas) Cantrall in Sonoma, California. In 2000, they moved to Lodi, California, and he was a draftsman for Stockton Blue. After eighteen years as partners and companions in love, they returned to Hospers this past September to live in the house where he was born.

Mr. Nieuwenhuis’s artistic talents were evident at an early age. In high school, he pinstriped many of his friends’ 1950s black leather jackets and flamed many of their custom hot rods. Several of his ink drawings and sketches are included in Siouxland: A History of Sioux County and Hospers, Iowa, Centennial, 1891-1991 by Nelson Nieuwenhuis. His biggest art passion was building model trains, airplanes, and boats. He would order blueprints from the Smithsonian and build model historic ships and boats and sell them throughout the country to collectors. Two of his most noted Civil War battleship replica scale models were purchased by the Vicksburg, Mississippi, Battlefield Museum.

He also had an artist’s disposition: easy going, non-confrontational, supportive, and fun, but he always held his ground with an opinion. He loved his family and friends very much. He will be missed.

Survivors include his partner, Vickie; three sons, Todd David Nieuwenhuis, of Chino, California; David Gene Nieuwenhuis, Jr., and his wife, Heidi (Haffner), and their four sons, Darren, and his wife, Jamie, Gerrit, Jarrod, and Harrison, of Newnan, Georgia; and Daniel Gerrit Nieuwenhuis, and his wife, Wendy (Violetti), and their three children, Adam, Zachary, and Audrey, of Vallejo, California; a step-son, Jim Robinson, of Portland, Oregon; a step-daughter and her husband, Deborah and Dave Parsons, and their two daughters, Katherine and Madison, of Sacramento, California; a brother and his wife, Norman Dean and Kerry Nieuwenhuis, of Orange City; in-laws, Kathy and Al Arnone; Margaret Mcinnis, and Jerry Passarelli; and many nephews and nieces.

In addition to his parents and second wife, he was preceded in death by his parents-in-law, Joseph and Marie Black; a sister-in-law, Marie (Black) Passarelli; and a brother-in-law, Joseph Black, Jr.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.