Van Dyke, Rena (Mrs. Arie) 1929-2017

VANDYKE, LENGKEEK, ROORDA

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/19/2017 at 16:08:11

Mrs. Rena Van Dyke, age 87, of Orange City, passed away on Sunday, January 15, 2017, at the Orange City Area Health System.

There will be a memorial service on Friday, January 20, at 11:00am, at the First Reformed Church Chapel in Orange City. The Revs. Mark Haverdink and Timothy Breen 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 Friday, at 10:00am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Visitation will be after 5:00pm on Thursday, with the family present from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the funeral home.

Rena was born on March 25, 1929, in Ypsilanti, North Dakota, the third child of John P. and Hilda (Lengkeek) Roorda.

On December 9, 1948, she married Arie Van Dyke at her parent’s home. They then moved to Iowa, eventually settling in Orange City. They were blessed with five children: Verla, Arlen, Donna Mae, Roger, and ReNae. Life changed quickly when Arie was killed in a truck accident near Breckenridge, Minnesota, on August 8, 1957.

In 1966, Rena moved her family to Phoenix, Arizona, to provide a warmer climate for Verla, who had rheumatoid arthritis. There she earned her General Education Degree with help from her children. She returned to Orange City and became a nurse’s aide at the Orange City Municipal Hospital, a job she enjoyed for forty years, retiring in December of 2007. She religiously rode her bicycle to work until the new hospital was built, forcing her to drive her 1972 lime green Comet.

She was a faithful member of the First Reformed Church and participated in the Mary-Martha Circle, Women’s Choir, Stephens’ Ministries, and three mission trips. Her joys in life were her family, the word of God, and being on her knees in prayer.

Survivors include her two daughters, Verla, and her husband, Don Van Sloten, of Ireton and ReNae Van Voorst of Orange City; a daughter-in-law, Dee Van Dyke, of Orange City; eight grandchildren, The Rev. Cory Van Sloten, and his wife, Arla; Brady Van Sloten; Kylie, and her husband, Andrew Prasuhn; Kacey, and her husband, Brian McQuilkin; Kraig Van Dyke, and his wife Sarah Beth; Kara, and her husband, Kevin Verschuure; Shawna Van Voorst; and Micah Van Voorst; fifteen great-grandchildren; five siblings, Annetta Hansen, of Rapid City, South Dakota; Marie Van Dyke and Arnold Roorda, and his wife Joyce, of Jamestown, North Dakota; Perry Roorda, and his wife, Dorothy, of Valley City, North Dakota; and Julie, and her husband, Lyle Heim, of North Little Rock, Arkansas.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Donna Mae, in October of 1953, and her two sons; Arlen Van Dyke, on April 13, 2014, and Roger Van Dyke, on April 23, 2014.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the First Reformed Church Mission Fund.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.