Rosa Frances (Bruns) VANGERPEN

VANGERPEN, BRUNS, REEMTSMA, VANDERMEULEN, LOCKETT, HENTHORNE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/14/2008 at 21:51:35

BELMOND - Rosa VanGerpen, 102, went to join her heavenly family on Monday (June 9, 2008) at the Belmond Health Care Center in Belmond. Funeral services for Rosa VanGerpen will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 14, at Calvary Baptist Church in Belmond with the Rev. Gary Schneider officiating. Interment will be at the Belmond Cemetery. Friends may call from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 13, at Dugger Funeral Home, 111 Luick's Lane S., and one hour prior to services at the church on Saturday. Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to direct memorials to Belmond Health Care Center or Calvary Baptist Church in Belmond.

Rosa Frances was born Nov. 22, 1905, in Aplington, the eleventh of 12 children, the daughter of Jann and Engelina Bruns. Her parents were farmers, immigrants from Ostfriesland, Germany. When Rosa was only 2, her father died. At the age of 7, her mother remarried and Aeilt Reemtsma of Aplington became her stepfather. Rosa attended public school in Aplington for several years. At age 13 she was baptized and joined Aplington Baptist Church. A few years later, she found employment as a housekeeper for a retired sea captain in nearby Ackley. On Jan. 5, 1927, in Aplington, she was united in marriage to John J. VanGerpen, a feed dealer from Buffalo Center, where they moved and started a family. For three years they farmed, then set up a hatchery and feed mill operation which continued for a decade or so. After briefly residing in Hampton and Sheffield, they moved to Belmond in 1941. As a loving mother, Rosa's greatest joy was her family. She enjoyed cooking and caring for flowers for which she seemed to have a special talent. Her church affiliation was Baptist.

Those thankful for sharing in Rosa's life are all eight of her children: the Rev. Emory VanGerpen and his wife Phyllis of Washington, Iowa; Myrna Vandermeulen of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Arthur VanGerpen and his wife, Carol, of LaHabra, Calif.; Irvin VanGerpen and his special friend, Carol Lockett, of Hampton; Merle VanGerpen and his wife, Eunice, of Webster City; Edythe Henthorne and her husband, Bill, of Denver, Colo.; John VanGerpen and his wife, Pam, of Garner; and Dr. Royce VanGerpen and his wife, Cherie, of Spokane, Wash.; 22 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by both parents, her step-father, and her husband, John VanGerpen in 1993. Her life span, despite its hardships, was longer than any of her 11 siblings.

Mason City Globe Gazette, IA
6/12/2008