Huibregtse, Robert "Bob" 1934-2023

HUIBREGTSE, DEROOS, HENDERSON

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 7/24/2024 at 15:24:28

Mr. Robert Huibregtse, age 89, of Orange City, passed away on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

There will be a visitation on Friday, June 14, 2024, from 9:00am to 10:00am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. There will be a memorial service on Friday, at 10:00am, at the church, with the Rev. Mark Haverdink 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.

Robert (Bob) Huibregtse was born in Hull, Iowa on January 24, 1934, the only son of Henry W. Huibregtse and Wilhelmina (De Roos) Huibregtse.

Bob was baptized and became a member of the Hull American Reformed Church. He attended and graduated from the Hull Public Schools in 1951.

Bob spent his freshman and sophomore years at Central College in Pella, and his junior and senior years at the University of Iowa, graduating in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce. He served the next two years in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Munsan-ni Korea for 17 months. After his honorary discharge, he was employed as an underwriter at Allied Mutual Insurance Company in Des Moines.

He met Betsy Henderson, a Drake student, at Plymouth Congregational Church and they were married on July 3, 1958.

He began the study of law at Drake Law School in 1961 and served as a law clerk in the firm of Stewart, Miller, Brennan and Joyce. He graduated with a LLB and was admitted to the Iowa State Bar in 1963.

Thomas and Andrea were born to the couple and in 1963, they moved to Orange City where John was born. Bob worked in the firm of TePaske and Rens and served as Assistant County Attorney. In 1968, he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence and was elected as Sioux County Attorney. In 1972 he attended the National College of District Attorneys in Houston, Texas, returning the next year to serve as faculty advisor. He was appointed as one of the first Sioux County Judicial Magistrates and served on the Judicial Nominating Commission for several years.

In 1975, Bob was appointed by Attorney General Richard Turner to be an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Iowa and an Area Prosecutor for 20 western Iowa counties. He continued to work as an AAG in the Department of Justice under Attorneys General Bonnie Campbell and Tom Miller, briefing and arguing Supreme Court appeal cases as well as supervising Child Support Attorneys in the same region until his retirement in 2000.

Bob enjoyed travel with Betsy and friends, time with his family, photography, drawing Dutch storefronts, sketching, reading, Lake Okoboji, and he completed 13 RAGBRAI rides across the state. Family and friends were treasured.

Bob is survived by the love of his life, his wife of more than 65 years, Betsy, of Orange City; three children, Thomas Huibregtse and his wife Melanie (Rensink) of Fort Collins, Colorado, Andrea Huibregtse of Helendale, California, and John Huibregtse and his wife Robin (Schmid) of Mission Viejo, California; two granddaughters, Lauren and her husband Roberto Contreras-Loreto of Seattle, Washington and Marie Huibregtse of Washington, D.C.; two grandsons, Jaden Huibregtse of Mission Viejo, and Tanner Huibregtse and his wife Sarah (Ryan) of San Diego, California; a sister-in-law, Thora Henderson of Des Moines, along with numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and good friends.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother-in-law, Bill Henderson.

Memorials will be given to the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.