Bertha E. "Bert" Huitink 1929 - 2008

HUITINK, MUILENBURG, DEN OUDEN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/30/2019 at 21:05:34

Sioux City Journal
26 December 2008

IRETON, Iowa -- Bertha E. "Bert" Huitink, 79, of Sioux Center, Iowa, formerly of Ireton, died Monday, Dec. 22, 2008, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Reformed Church, 502 Ash Street, Ireton. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be after noon today, with the family present 5 to 7 p.m., at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Porter Funeral Home in Ireton.

Bert was born Sept. 30, 1929, in Hull, Iowa, the daughter of the late Hildebrandt and Kathryn (Muilenburg) Den Ouden. She was baptized on Nov. 3, 1929, at First Christian Reformed Church in Ireton. She confessed her faith there in August 1948. She was raised and educated in Ireton. After graduating from Ireton High School in 1947, where she was a member of the basketball team, she was employed with Herweynen's Grocery Store in Ireton.

She married Willard Huitink on Aug. 31, 1949, in Cass Lake, Minn. They farmed in the Sioux Center and Orange City, Iowa, areas from 1949 to 1956. In 1956, they moved to Sioux Center, where Willard was employed with the Farm Bureau Service Company and she worked part-time at a local grocery store. In 1961, they moved to Ireton, where he was employed and later became part-owner of the Siouxland Implement Company. After their retirement in 1994, the couple resided in Ireton until 2006, when they moved to the Carriage House Apartments in Sioux Center. For her own enjoyment, she began working part-time serving samples at Hy-Vee in Sioux Center, where she was employed until her death.

She will be remembered as a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend. Her first priority was her family, for whom no sacrifice was too great. She especially appreciated good manners and civility and by good example and strict enforcement, sought to instill the same appreciation in her children.

She maintained a comfortable and welcoming home, where she was always a gracious hostess. Her dining room was the site of countless tea parties for her many friends from the First Reformed Church, Ireton Historical Society and the Ireton Red Hatters. Most memorable was the "high tea" she hosted to commemorate the marriage of Prince Charles to Princess Diana.

Her grandchildren will always remember the loving sanctuary she provided at Grandma's House, where she rocked them, sang to them, spoiled them and defeated them nightly at Wheel of Fortune. Her unconditional love and support for her grandchildren was matched only by her pride in them. She thoughtfully shared those feelings with her grandchildren throughout her life with frequent cards, phone calls and visits.

Survivors include her husband, Willard; a son, Douglas and Judith (Garnos) Huitink of Dakota Dunes, S.D.; grandchildren, Kara Huitink of Tempe, Ariz., Graham Garnos of St. Paul, Minn., Garrett Garnos of Columbia, S.C., Ben Jacobs of Phoenix, Ariz., and Tosha Jacobs of Tempe, Ariz.; a son, Terry and Kathy (Gaul) Huitink of Ireton; grandchildren, Michael and Sandy Huitink; great-grandchildren, Lucas and Kathryn Huitink of Wauwatosa, Wis., Jonathan and Melissa Huitink of Chicago, Ill., Daniel and Jenna Huitink of Iowa City, Iowa, and Zachary Huitink of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; a daughter, Kimberly (Huitink) and Daniel Butler of Urbandale, Iowa; grandchildren, Andrew Sikkink of Pella, Iowa, Jay Sikkink of Urbandale, Kelsey Butler of Kansas City, Mo., and Allie Butler of Ames, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Magdeline "Madge" De Ruyter, Johanna De Vries, Aliada "Alice" Den Ouden; and brothers, Bernerd Den Ouden and Cornelious "Casey" Den Ouden.