Boender, John Richard (Rev.) 1930-2016

BOENDER, DEBOER, PRUIS

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/12/2016 at 10:08:26

The Rev. John R. Boender, age 86, of Sheldon, formerly of Boyden, passed away on Saturday, December 3, 2016, at the Sanford Senior Care in Sheldon.

There will be a memorial service on Thursday, December 8, at 2:30pm, at the First Reformed Church in Boyden. The Rev. David Poppen will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the Hospers Cemetery. There will be a family prayer service on Thursday, at 12:45pm, at the church.

Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Wednesday, with the family present from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the church. Arrangements are with the Oolman Funeral Home in Hull.

John Richard was born on October 30, 1930, on a farm northwest of Hospers, the son of Johannes “Joe” and Rena (de Boer) Boender. He attended the Lynn Independent School and graduated from the Newkirk High School. He attended the Northwestern Junior College in Orange City and graduated from the Central College in Pella. He also attended the Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, graduating in 1954. He then enlisted in the United States Army, where he served 26 months as a chaplain, the last fourteen in Germany.

On June 16, 1955, he married Ruth Pruis. They served the First Reformed Church in Allendale, Michigan, for five years. They then went to Harrison, South Dakota for four years; Salem Reformed Church in Little Rock, Iowa for eight and one half years; Hingham, Wisconsin for sixteen years; and Woodstock, Minnesota for nine years. At Woodstock, he enjoyed assisting at the New Life Treatment Center. In semi-retirement, he also served in Allendale again for four more years as a calling pastor. They then moved to Boyden, where he was calling pastor at the First Reformed Church in Hull and the Bethel Reformed Church of Little Rock.

In November of 2013, Pastor and Mrs. Boender moved to the Fieldcrest Assisted Living in Sheldon. He transferred to the Sheldon Senior Care in February of this year.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern College and the William Monster American Legion Post in Boyden. He also worked with Prison Ministries through Cursillo and was a Friend of the Gideons. He enjoyed gardening, woodworking, reading, visiting with people, writing poetry, and spending time with his family members.

Survivors include his wife of more than 61 years; two sons and their wives, David and Vera Boender of Boyden; and Andrew and Susan Boender of Rock Valley; a daughter, Ruthann Boender of Sheldon; five grandchildren, Timothy Boender and his wife, Dawn; Samuel Boender, Caleb Boender, Elizabeth Boender, and Zachary Boender; three great-grandchildren, Eva and Anna Boender and Barry Browning; two sisters, Arlene Ver Hoek, of Estelline, South Dakota and Josephine Van Oort, of Denver, Colorado; a sister-in-law, Phyllis Huizenga, of Morrison, Illinois; and several nephews and nieces.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers and their wives, Claude and Lucy Boender and Henry and Anna Boender; two sisters, Lucretia and Adrianna Boender; an infant brother, also named John; two brothers-in-law, Jean Van Oort and Gerrit Ver Hoek; and Ruth’s family, her parents, Carl and Anna Pruis; two brothers, James Pruis and his wife, Ella Mae; and Charles Pruis; and two sisters, Analene and her husband, the Rev. Charles Botkin; and Carlene Pruis.

Memorials may be directed to The Gideons.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.