Plender, Dwayne Allen 1943-2019

PLENDER, VANDERWILT, BUSHMER, CHRISTENSEN

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:38

Mr. Dwayne Plender, age 76, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, October 25, 2019, at the Orange City Area Health System.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, November 2, at 10:30am, at the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Robert De Boer 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 church.

Visitation with the family will be on Friday, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the CHURCH.
Arrangements are with the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Dwayne Allen was born to Henry and Arta (Vander Wilt) Plender, on February 26, 1943, in a farmhouse north of Alton. In 1952, the family moved to a farm north of Orange City, where Dwayne helped his dad milk cows, bale hay, and mend fences. In 1961, Dwayne graduated from the Maurice-Orange City High School; and in 1964, he married his high school sweetheart, Cheryl Bushmer. Cheryl worked as a school nurse for the Brookings, South Dakota school system while Dwayne finished his last two years of pharmacy school at South Dakota State University. Following his graduation in 1966, the couple moved to St Louis, Missouri, where Dwayne served two years as an FDA Inspector for the U.S. Public Health Service and worked for one year as a pharmacist for Walgreens Drug Store. Two of their children, Ronna and Brent, were born in the “Show Me” state.

In June 1969, the family moved back to Orange City to open a new drug store, the Dutch Mill Pharmacy. Their two youngest children, Corey and Blake, were born in Orange City. All four of their children helped at the pharmacy by stocking shelves, clerking, bottling Plender’s Diaper Ointment, and other miscellaneous jobs. Brent and Blake have taken over the store in the past few years so that Dwayne could “retire.”

Dwayne had served on the Orange City City Council for eight years; the board of the Pioneer Memorial Home in Orange City for twenty years; the board of Hope Haven since 1995; as a cubmaster for Cub Scouts for eight years; the Tulip Festival Steering Committee for several years; and as a board member and honorary president of the Iowa Pharmacists Association.

Dwayne and Cheryl enjoyed summers at Lake Okoboji with their children and grandchildren and welcomed countless friends whom they made to feel like family. Dwayne liked to “putter” about, fixing things at the cabin and having early morning coffee with special friends on the screen porch. The grandkids enjoyed watersports with their grandpa who water-skied last summer at age 75. They also liked to travel with their family, and in 2002, the family of eighteen enjoyed a great time in Orlando, Florida, during spring break. They also took each of their grandchildren on a special trip for their graduation from high school.

Survivors include his wife of more than 55 years, Cheryl; his four children and their families, Ronna and Lyle De Vos, of Hull; and their children Jeramy, Colin, and Parker; Brent and Karla Plender, of Orange City; and their children Morgan, and her husband, Christian Klein, Micah, and Makenna; Corey and Dawn Plender, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and their children Courtney, Casey, and Grant; and Blake and Marcia Plender, of Orange City; and their children Julie, Bridget, and Trevor; a brother and his wife, Arlin and Sandy Plender, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; a sister and her husband, Donna and John Crawford, of Orange City; two sisters-in-law, Ramona, and her husband, Harlan Hofkamp, of Flandreau, South Dakota; and Renee Palmer, of Washington State; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his wife’s parents, Dr. Alex and Leola (Christensen) Bushmer.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Hope Haven or the Pioneer Memorial Home.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.