Catherine Belle (Halfpop) BARKEMA

BARKEMA, BURGESS, HALFPOP, SCHAEFER, SEIFRIED

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/1/2008 at 10:13:01

October 24, 2006

Catherine B. Barkema, 71, of Goodell, died on Thursday, October 19, 2006, following a 3-year battle with leukemia. Funeral services were held on Monday, October 23, at the Goodell United Methodist Church, with Pastor Paddy Druhl officiating. Burial was in the Amsterdam Cemetery near Goodell.

Catherine Belle, the daughter of Paul and Ina Mae (Burgess) Halfpop, was born on February 16, 1935, on the family farm in Avery Township and continued to live her entire life in the Goodell area. She graduated from the Goodell High School in 1952. On September 26, 1953, she married Dick Barkema Jr. at the EUB Church in Goodell. She helped Dick with the farm until retirement, at which time they enjoyed spending summers in Walker, Minnesota and winters in Apache Junction, Arizona. Catherine attended the United Methodist Church in Goodell. Catherine was a skilled porcelain artist and a member of the Iowa and World China Painters Guild. She enjoyed sewing anything from a complicated hardanger piece to Halloween costumes for her grandchildren and cooking. Two of her favorite joys were her grandchildren and shopping. She loved the holidays and having all of her family around her. Catherine loved the outdoors and would take any opportunity to go for a walk in the woods, whether it was mushroom hunting, gathering nuts, fishing in the river, or picking a bouquet of flowers.

She was preceded in death by her parents; grandchildren, Megan and Marissa Barkema; and a sister-in-law, Harriet Halfpop. Survivors include her husband; children, Barbara Schaefer of Goodell, Keith (Sharon) of Klemme, Mark (Nancy) of Goodell and Dick A. (Tammy) of Klemme; grandchildren, Lisa Schaefer, Tim Barkema, Mindy (Chad) Seifried, Marcus, Michelle, Amanda, Cassandra and Taylor Barkema; and a brother, Bernard Halfpop of Fairmont, Minnesota.

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