Kalsbeek, Florence (Mrs. Gerard John) 1918-2017

KALSBEEK, VISSER, DESTIGTER

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:35

Mrs. Florence Kalsbeek, age 99, of Orange City, passed away to be welcomed home by her Savior on Thursday, August 10, 2017, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

There will be a funeral service on Thursday, August 17, at 10:30am, at the American Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Michael Hardeman and the Rev. Elizabeth Hardeman will officiate. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Wednesday, with the family present from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Florence was born on June 8, 1918, in Sioux Center, the daughter of Lane and Barbara (Visser) De Stigter. Baptized as “Florida”, she was the seventh of twelve children in her family. She was raised in Sioux Center, where she attended the Christian School. She played an important role in helping to raise her younger brothers and sisters. As a result, she was highly proficient as a homemaker, particularly as a seamstress. She would transform old adult clothing into “new” children’s clothing.

On April 3, 1941, she married the love of her life, Gerard John Kalsbeek, in her parents’ home. They made their home in Alton until 1961, when they moved to Orange City. Besides being a homemaker, she was active in the community as the Precinct Chairperson for the Democratic Party, a member of the Board of Directors of the Pioneer Memorial Home, Vice-Chairperson of the Women’s Club, and a member of the chorus of the Tulip Festival night shows, all in Orange City.

Mrs. Kalsbeek was a former member of the Second Christian Reformed Church in Orange City, where she and Gerard sang in the choir and she participated in the women’s organizations. She was a member of the American Reformed Church, where she did similar activities. In her spare time, she enjoyed gardening, camping, traveling with her family, and needle work. In her later years, she relished visiting with her children and grandchildren, when they all came to visit during their annual summer pilgrimage to Orange City.

Gerard passed away on October 27, 1999, in Orange City, after 58 years of marriage. In 2007, Florence moved to the Orange City Long Term Care Facility and transferred to Prairie Ridge, when that opened.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by six brothers, Bill, Tim, Gilbert (her twin), Peter, Leonard, and Melvin De Stigter, and three sisters, Helen Wassenaar, Alyda Kosters, and Adrianna Schoo.

Survivors include a brother and a sister, Cornelius De Stigter, of Livonia, Michigan; and Lucile (and Norm) Poele, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; three sisters-in-law, Ella and Elaine De Stigter and Helen Kalsbeek; three children and their spouses, Sharon and Dale Trulock, of Milroy, Minnesota; Bill and Rebecca Kalsbeek, of Raleigh, North Carolina and Orange City; and Mary and Jack Suite, of Concord, California; four grandchildren, Jeff Kiyama, of San Diego, California; Lindsay Kiyama, of Portland, Oregon; and Sarah (and David) With and Brian (and Melia) Kalsbeek, all of Raleigh; and three great-grandchildren, Olivia With; and Isaac and Ian Kalsbeek.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.