Pals, Harold Elvin "Al" 1939-2022

PALS, DEVRIES, VANSICKLE

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting (email)
Date: 7/22/2022 at 19:06:34

Mr. Harold “Al” Pals, age 82, of Orange City, passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 26, 2022, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

A visitation with the family present will be held on Friday, July 1, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City. A family prayer service will take place on Saturday, July 2, at 9:00am, at the funeral home, followed by interment at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a memorial service on Saturday, at 10:00am, at the Dover Avenue Alliance Church in Orange City with the Rev. Timothy Poferl and the Rev. Richard Porter officiating.

Harold Elvin was born on July 4, 1939, in Orange City, the third of five children born to Cornelius and Claire (De Vries) Pals. He attended the Christian school and later the public school, where he loved to play sports, especially basketball. In later years, he enjoyed watching his children and grandchildren play football and basketball. He was a booster for Northwestern College Red Raiders for many years and didn’t miss many games. Go big Red!

At an early age, Al developed a strong work ethic. He began earning a small amount of money by mowing the family lawn and doing any other odd jobs. He would often go to work with his dad who at that time owned and operated a trucking company called Pals Transfer. Al believed the best way to achieve a great work ethic was by observing, and Pals Transfer was a great place to do this. He began noticing many opportunities to make money at Pals Transfer, such as sweeping the floors, and helping load and unload trucks.

Al was a saver. In the Dutch vernacular one might call him a “tight Dutchman,” but he had hopes of using his savings to buy a car one day. At age fifteen, his hard work paid off. He went to the bank and withdrew cash to buy his first car, an aqua and white 1955 Ford Victoria, of which he was very proud. In his later years, Al purchased another Ford Victoria and restored it as an exact replica of his original car.

After graduation from high school in 1957, Al attended Nettelton Business College in Sioux City, where he earned his Associates Degree in Accounting. After college, He began his career at Pals Transfer and became part owner.

On August 30, 1959, Al married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Van Sickle, in Orange City. This is where they made their home and raised their family. Al and Pat were faithful members of Dover Avenue Alliance Church, where Al served the church in many capacities, including being the church treasurer for many years. Many people knew of his deep love for Jesus Christ. He loved the Lord with all his heart and helped many people to find the path to salvation.

In 1966, Pals Transfer sold. It wasn’t too long after this that Al got to use his accounting skills once again, finding his career home at Vogel Paints, where he eventually became the comptroller. He worked hard for this company and put in many long hours to “get the job done right”, which was very important to him. He was known throughout the company for typing memos, many of which had misspellings and lacked punctuation. Al spent many hours looking at benefit and insurance packages trying to find ways to cut costs for the company. His work was his identity for nearly forty years. Throughout these years, he also helped with the financial side of his dad’s business, Alton Well and Concrete in Alton. This was a successful business that employed many of the Cornelius Pals grandchildren over the years, and eventually was purchased by Al and his nephew-in-law, Larry Vande Brake.

In 2004, after retirement, Al and Pat sold the family home in Orange City and moved to Lake Okoboji, where they purchased a home on the Spirit Lake Harbor. Okoboji was an annual destination for the Pals family even when he was a young boy. Al and Pat faithfully attended the Okoboji Bible Conference every August. This became an annual event for many in the Pals family throughout the years. The conference filled their souls and they made many eternal friends. After their move to the lake, Al and Pat decided they would help make the conference grow by volunteering their time in many ways. Whether it was counting offerings, working on the board of directors, cleaning cabins, or general ground maintenance, the Pals did it. They also found a wonderful church home at Good News Community Church in Spirit Lake and loved the people there as well. Okoboji also became a pivotal place for their children and grandchildren to go every summer. This is where their grandchildren went to become friends. The family has many fond memories of this wonderful place.

In the fall of 2014, Al had a significant fall and hit his head, suffering a brain bleed which led to early signs of dementia. They returned to Orange City and, after a few years, decided to become part of the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community. Over time, Al’s dementia worsened, and he became a resident of the Prairie Ridge Care Center in 2020.

Survivors include his wife Pat of almost 63 years; three children and their spouses; Todd (Lynnet) Pals, of Jenks, Oklahoma; Tanya (Bryan) Schnell, of Rapid City, South Dakota; and Thad (Jennifer) Pals, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; ten grandchildren; Joshua (Jessica) Pals; Jessica (Brett) Wiese; Samuel (Hallie) Schnell; Alexander (Maddie) Schnell; Eli Schnell (fiancé Sydney Norton); Tyler (Kiley) Pals; Mark Pals (Abby Schultz); Katherine Pals; Emily Pals; and Jack Pals; five great-grandchildren; two sisters and their husbands, Charlene (Norman) Prins, of Bloomington, Minnesota; Carolyn (Randy) Porter, of Laguna Vista, Texas; and a brother-in-law Larry Van Sickle (Ruben Murillo), of Henderson, Nevada; a host of nieces and nephews; and special friends, Arthur and Shirley Vogel.

In addition to his parents, Al was preceded in death by a brother, Clifford Pals; a sister, Harriet Caballes; and a sister-in-law, Barbara Pals.

Memorials will be given to the Okoboji Bible Conference.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.