Houwerzyl, Theodore, 1866-1937

HOUWERZYL

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:37

From the Sioux County Capital, September 30, 1937:

Theodore Howerzl[sic], 70, passed away Thursday morning at the home of Mr. and Mrs. F. Tiemersma. He was born in Chicago. At the age of 17 he moved with his parents to New Holland, S. Dak. In 1934 he came to Orange City. He has no relatives so was cared for in the Tiemersma home.

Funeral services were held at the Van Etten Funeral Home Saturday afternoon with the Revs. R. Bronkema and B. Schuurman officiating. Interment was made in the Orange City cemetery.

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From De Volksvriend, September 30, 1927:

(In English)
IN MEMORIUM – HOUWERZYL

The Men’s Society “Augustine” of the First Chr. Ref. Church at Orange City, Ia., mourns the loss of one of its members,
Theodore Houwerzyl,
who died on Thursday, Sept. 23, 1937, at the age of 70 years. His illness was a lingering one, but he suffered with much patience. We have the assurance that our loss is his gain, and that he is now with the Lord, Whom he served with simplicity of heart.
Andrew Doctor, Pres.
Arie Noteboom, Sec’y

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RESEARCH NOTES

The Sioux County Cemetery Index has Houwerzyl, Theo, b. 1866, d. 1938[sic], West Lawn Cemetery, Orange City IA. His FindaGrave.com page provides no additional information.

His death certificate has him as Theodore Howerzile (indexed on Ancestry.com as Howergile), single, a retired farmer; born Jan 10, 1867 in the Netherlands; parents’ names unknown to the informant (“Family Bible”); died in Orange City at 12:30 p.m. September 23, 1937; cause, cardiac insufficiency; contributory cause, chronic nephritis.

The 1930 U.S. census for Joubert Township, Douglas County, South Dakota has an entry for Theo. Houwerzijl, age 63, single, living alone and renting a farm, born in Illinois, parents born in the Netherlands, a carpenter.

News notes in area newspapers show that a “Mr. Houwerzyl” was under a doctor’s care in South Dakota at least since 1934 (De Volksvriend, Feb. 15, 1934); and that a “Mr. Howerzyl,” the father of Mrs. Wesley Hoekman, fell and broke his hip in June 1937 (Alton Democrat, June 11, 1937, Orange City news). This may be Theodore, or it may be a relative, although no other Houwerzyl or Howerzyl appears in the Sioux County Cemetery Index.