De Graaf, Olivia H. (Mrs. Gerald Stanley) 1923-2017

DEGRAAF, DENBESTE, STARKENBURG, PABST

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/15/2017 at 13:42:36

Mrs. Olivia De Graaf, age 93, of Orange City, passed away on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, May 13, at 10:30am, at the Alton Reformed Church. The Rev. Scott Bonestroo 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 Saturday, at 9:30am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

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

Olivia Harriet was born on May 14, 1923, at Orange City, the daughter of Steve and Katherine (Den Beste) Starkenburg. She was raised and educated in the Orange City area.

On April 11, 1945, she married Gerald Stanley De Graaf in Orange City. They farmed near Newkirk, until moving to rural Alton in 1952, where they continued to farm. In addition to being a devoted farm wife and homemaker, she also worked at K-Products, De Vries Drapery, the Village Drug Store, and the food service department of Northwestern College, all in Orange City. Gerald passed away on January 2, 1995, in Hartley, Iowa, after almost fifty years of marriage.

Olivia moved to Orange City in 1996. Since 2011 she has resided at the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community, the Heritage House Nursing Home, and the Prairie Ridge Care Center.

“Olvie” was a member of the Alton Reformed Church. She was an excellent seamstress, sewing clothing and quilts. She also completed many afghans and needlework projects. When she had the opportunity, she enjoyed traveling.

Survivors include her two daughters and their husbands, Judy and Ron Schneider, of George, Iowa, and Deborah and Dave Anderson, of Emerson, Iowa; a son and his wife, Jeffrey and Marcia De Graaf, of Alton; five grandchildren, Sasha, and her husband, B.J. Gerken, of George; Jamie, and her husband, John Hill, of Naperville, Illinois; Gillian Anderson, of Arnolds Park, Iowa; Leah De Graaf, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Collin De Graaf, of Ames, Iowa; five great-grandchildren, Kiely, Kayla and Kami Gerken; and Lauren Olivia and Mason Hill.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her step-father, Charles Pabst.

Memorials may be directed to the Alton Reformed Church Vacation Bible School.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.