Vander Zwaag, Betty (Mrs. Claude) 1936-2023

VANDERZWAAG, AALBERTS, VANVELDHUIZEN

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/12/2023 at 13:38:03

Mrs. Betty Vander Zwaag, age 87, of Orange City, passed away on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, at Keelson Harbour Assisted Living in Spirit Lake.

A visitation with the family present will be held on Monday, November 13, from 12:30pm to 1:30pm, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. There will be a funeral service on Monday, at 2:00pm, at the church with the Rev. Mark Haverdink and the Rev. John Klompien officiating. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. The Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City is in charge of arrangements.

Betty Lou was born on July 12, 1936, to Garrett and Janet (Van Veldhuizen) Aalberts. She was born and raised in Orange City, where she graduated from the Orange City High School in 1953. Following her graduation, she earned her teaching certificate from Northwestern Junior College in Orange City before working as an elementary school teacher in Rock Rapids.

She was united in marriage to Claude Vander Zwaag on December 30, 1958, at the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City. Betty and Claude made their home on a farm east of Hull, where they raised their four daughters and Betty worked as a substitute teacher for the Boyden-Hull School District. After their children were grown, Betty spent fifteen years working as a Title I reading and math teacher at the Boyden-Hull Elementary School. In 1998, she and Claude moved to a home in Orange City, and Betty continued to substitute teach at Boyden-Hull well into her seventies.

Mrs. Vander Zwaag was currently a member of the First Reformed Church in Orange City and a former member of the First Reformed Church in Hull, where she taught Sunday School for many years, participated in the women’s groups, and sang in the church choir. She also helped teach Friendship Bible Classes and she and Claude were avid fans and supporters of Northwestern College Red Raiders Athletics.

Betty liked to spend time in her kitchen, often baking or canning fresh produce and preparing meals for her family and for extra help on the farm during planting and harvest seasons. She looked forward to her ladies' night out painting ceramics at Lil’s in Boyden, and in earlier years she enjoyed going on the family’s “big” vacations. After retiring, Claude and Betty traveled both state side and abroad, and were able to enjoy several different cruises.

The two most important things in Betty’s life were her faith and her family. She will be remembered as a selfless wife, mother, and grandmother who loved the Lord, her husband, their children, and the “grands” with her whole heart.

She is survived by her husband of almost 65 years, Claude, of Orange City but currently living in Spirit Lake; three daughters and their husbands, Susan and Neil Krogman, of Marshfield, Wisconsin; Nancy and David Dau, of Spirit Lake; and Mary and Marc Kuiper, of Greenville, South Carolina; a son-in-law and his wife, Steve and Elizabeth De Zeeuw, of Prairie Village, Kansas; ten grandchildren, Breanne (Aaron) Van De Bogart, Megan (Jordan) Altmann, Drew Dau, Amy (Ryan Danczak) Krogman, Adam Dau, Alex (Taylor) Dau, Anna (Chad) Bureau, Emma (Chase) Allen, Ben (Mary Cameron) Kuiper, and Elizabeth Kuiper; eight great-grandchildren; two sisters, Arlene Bomgaars and Bev Grienke, both of Orange City; and two sisters-in-law, Harriet Vander Zwaag, of Sioux Center; and Gail Vander Zwaag, of Spirit Lake; along with numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Jane De Zeeuw; a sister, Jean (William) Vande Brake; three brothers, Erwin (Willie) Aalberts, Kenneth (Lorraine) Aalberts, and John (Donna and Aida) Aalberts; and five brothers-in-law, Alvin Bomgaars, Rudy Grienke, Henry Vander Zwaag, Glenn Vander Zwaag, and Clifford (Judith) Van Schepen.

Memorials will be given to Lakes Regional Healthcare Hospice, Samaritan’s Purse, and Gideons International.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.