Vander Windt, Ella Mae (Mrs. Henry) 1928-2023

VANDERWINDT, GESINK, DEJONG

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting (email)
Date: 10/5/2023 at 14:22:47

Ella Mae Vander Windt, much beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend departed this earthly life at the age of 95, on Friday, September 15, 2023, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City, surrounded by her family.

A funeral service will be held at the Redeemer United Reformed Church in Orange City on Thursday, September 21, at 10:30am, with The Rev. Todd De Rooy officiating. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. Following the interment, all are invited to greet the family and join them for a meal at the church. The Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City is in charge of arrangements.

Ella was born in Orange City on January 13, 1928, to Ben and Minnie (De Jong) Gesink. She was raised with her siblings on a farm near Maurice during the Great Depression. The family later moved to Orange City, where she worked as a nurse’s aide at the Grossman Hospital.

Ella married Henry Vander Windt, a recent immigrant from the Netherlands, on April 18, 1958. They farmed near Struble until Henry’s death in 1991. Their family and social life was rich with her siblings and their growing families, friends from the Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Le Mars, Henry’s family visiting from Holland, and a lively circle of Dutch immigrant families. Ella moved to Orange City after Henry’s death, where she worked for the Orange City Area Health System, volunteered at the Bibles for Missions store, and was an active member of the Redeemer United Reformed Church.

Ella’s strong Christian faith was a source of joy and comfort to her and a witness to others. She now, by God’s grace, enters into the fullness of life!

She is deeply mourned by her daughter, Laura Vander Windt, and her husband, McLain Rose, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; a son and his wife, Michael and Jill Vander Windt, of Le Mars; four grandchildren, Joshua Vander Windt; Cainen Vander Windt, and his wife, Jessica; Kennedy, and her husband, Alex Foley; and Jackson Vander Windt; two great-grandsons, Elijah Vander Windt and Harrison Foley; a sister, Lois Snieder; four sisters-in-law, Arlene Gesink, Jos de Vries, Rik Vander Harst, and Map Van Duyl; a brother-in-law, Abraham Vander Windt; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by two brothers, Burt Gesink and John Gesink; two sisters, Albertha Van Roekel and Henrietta De Jong; and a great-grandson, Bennett Vander Windt; as well as several sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law.

Memorials will be given to the Ireton Christian School and the Redeemer United Reformed Church.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.