Smit, Betty Joan (Mrs. Arnold John) 1930-2022

SMIT, FABER, DYKSTRA

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/25/2023 at 13:41:52

Mrs. Betty Smit, age 92, of Orange City, passed away on Saturday, December 10, 2022, at the Orange City Area Health System.

There will be a funeral service on Wednesday, December 14, at 11:00am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City with the Rev. Mark Haverdink officiating. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. A luncheon and time of visitation with the family will take place at the church, following the interment. The Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City is in charge of arrangements.

Betty Joan was born on a farm north of Middleburg on September 2, 1930, the first of three daughters born to Jacob J. and Agnes (Faber) Dykstra. She grew up on her parents’ farm and attended a nearby country school and Western Christian High School in Hull.

She was united in marriage to Arnold John Smit on November 22, 1949. They made their home and raised their family in Hull, where in addition to being a wife and mother, Betty helped Arnold with his trucking business. In 1990, the couple retired and moved to Sioux Center, where they lived for five years before moving to Orange City. During their retirement years, Arnold and Betty enjoyed traveling with their camper, often to fairs in the area. Arnold passed away on October 20, 2000, in Sioux Falls, after more than fifty years of marriage. In 2015, Betty moved to the Pioneer Memorial Home in Orange City, and in January of 2021, she became a resident of the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

Betty was currently a member of the First Reformed Church in Orange City. She was previously a member of the American Reformed Church in Hull, where she had been active in the church’s choir, including serving as the director. She also used her musical gifts as a member of the Sioux County Women’s Chorus; as well as singing with her sisters and playing the piano and organ. Betty liked to keep a neat home, often decorating with flower arrangements that she made. She also enjoyed going shopping, and was always well dressed and stylish, even as her health declined.

She is survived by five children, Arlen Smit, and his wife, Lee Ann, of Orange City; Audrey, and her husband, Perry Raman, of Hull; Ron Smit, and his wife, Adri, of Hospers; Joan, and her husband, Randy Williams, of Omaha, Nebraska; and Carl Smit, of Holstein; a daughter-in-law and her husband, Sandra and Chris Simbro, of Newton; twenty grandchildren, Angela (John) Peterson, Stephanie (Eric) Schwebach, A.J. (Lisa) Smit, Karina (Drew) Nonnemacher, Anita (Eldon) Vanden Brink, Aric (Rachel) Van Voorst, Stacy (Eric) Ribbens, Nathan (Lora) Raman, Bethany (Corbett) Reeves, Emily (James) Dorr, Ben Smit, Robyn (Jay) Carnes, Scott (Lindsay) Smit, Heather Smit, Jeremy (Amber) Smit, Michelle (Chad) Schneiss, Tiffany (Tim) Page, Joshua Williams, Caleb (Courtney) Williams, Kaylynn Smit, Carson Smit, and Jaxon Smit; fifty great-grandchildren; a sister, Joyce Groeneweg, of Sioux Center; four sisters-in-law, Phyllis Wissink, of Sioux Center; Luella Krommendyk, of Hull; Judy Kersbergen, of Wichita Falls, Texas; and Mary Van Otterloo, of Rock Valley; two brothers-in-law and their wives, Howard and Arlene Smit, of Hull; and Allen and Rose Smit, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a son, Roger Smit; a son-in-law, Alvin Van Voorst; a sister and her husband, Clarice and Jerace Vande Griend; a sister-in-law and her husband, Darlene and Harold Van Otterloo; and five brothers-in-law, Ronald Groeneweg; Marvin Wissink; Bud Krommendyk; Delmar Smit, and his wife, Ardell; and Jim Kersbergen.

Memorials will be given to the Pioneer Memorial Home in Orange City.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.