Bomgaars, Earl Bernard 1948-2023

BOMGAARS, DENHERDER, WILDEMAN

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/20/2023 at 13:33:17

Mr. Earl Bomgaars, age 74, of Orange City, passed away on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at the Orange City Area Health System.

A visitation with the family present will be held on Tuesday, November 21, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. A prayer service will take place on Wednesday, November 22, at 10:00am, at the church, followed by interment at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a memorial service on Wednesday, at 11:00am, at the church with the Rev. Mark Haverdink officiating. The Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City is in charge of arrangements.

Earl Bernard was born in Le Mars on December 30, 1948, one of ten children born to Bernard and Geneva (Den Herder) Bomgaars. He grew up on farms in rural Sioux County until his family moved to a farm near Rock Rapids. He attended Central Lyon High School, where he participated in all of the school’s athletic programs and met his future wife, Donna Wildeman. After graduating from high school in 1967, he enrolled at Northwestern College in Orange City, where he played on the Red Raiders football team.

He and Donna were married on July 26, 1969, at the First Reformed Church in Rock Rapids, and they made their home in Orange City. After college, Earl began working at a local auto repair shop until starting as a truck driver and mechanic at Russell’s Ready Mix in Orange City. The majority of his working years were spent as a diesel mechanic and heavy-duty wrecker operator for De Jong Oil in Orange City. Most recently he worked at Diamond Vogel Paint and EZ Liner, both in Orange City. After retiring in 2018, he still enjoyed keeping busy with minor repairs and handyman projects for family, friends, and people he had met during his employment.

Earl was a member of the First Reformed Church in Orange City and enjoyed singing in the church’s choir and spent a number of years helping with the church’s Tulip Festival food stand. He looked forward to sunny weekends at The Lakes with his family, going fishing, and playing Phase10 with his grandchildren. He also enjoyed attending his grandchildren’s various extracurricular activities and working on his dad’s old Jeep with his brothers and nephew.

Those who knew him the best and will miss him the most include his wife of more than 54 years, Donna, of Orange City; his two sons and their wives, Jason “Jay” and Marsha Bomgaars, of Alton; and Joel “Joe” and Angela Bomgaars, of Orange City; five grandchildren, Cody and Bryce Bomgaars; and Brad, Karli, and A.J. Bomgaars; three sisters, Carol Noteboom, of Orange City; Lois, and her husband, Ken Kuehl, of Bonita Springs, Florida; and Glenda Kurtzhals, of Kingsley; four brothers and their wives, Arnold and Becky Bomgaars, of Rochester, Minnesota; Gerald and Deb Bomgaars and Wayne and Kelly Bomgaars, all of Orange City; and Lowell and Patti Bomgaars, of Lincoln, Nebraska; two sisters-in-law, Mary Lou Bomgaars, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Mary Bomgaars, of Sioux Center; and two brothers-in-law and their wives, David and Martha Wildeman, of Phoenix, Arizona; and Arlen and Lori Wildeman, of Ames; as well as many nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Vernon Bomgaars and Norman Bomgaars; a sister-in-law, Kerri Bomgaars; and two brothers-in-law, Vernon Noteboom and Al Kurtzhals.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.