Evelyn Jean (Schulte) BARKEMA

BARKEMA, SCHULTE, BONTE, BIER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/26/2013 at 15:56:15

October 15, 1919 ---- June 4, 2013

Olathe, Kan. — Evelyn Jean Barkema, age 93, passed away on June 4, 2013, at Aberdeen Village in Olathe, Kan. Evelyn was born October 15, 1919, in Alexander, Iowa, to Minnie Bonte Schulte and Chris C. Schulte. She graduated from Alexander Consolidated High School in 1937 and from Iowa State University in 1941 with a B.S. degree in home economics. After college, Evelyn taught in the Corning and Carroll, Iowa, high schools for several years. During her years teaching, Evelyn began dating Foster D. Barkema on weekends and summer visits to Alexander. Evelyn and Foster were married on October 16, 1948, by her uncle George William Bonte of Bristow, Iowa.

Evelyn joined Foster on the farm he had rented, and during a snowstorm in March 1950, they moved to the farm several miles northeast of Alexander that would be their home for nearly 60 years. Evelyn was an active participant in the growing farming operation, keeping the farm books and being on call during the busy seasons. Evelyn was deeply committed to her family and many friends. She made family birthdays and holiday celebrations special events, and she was a faithful writer of letters and cards by hand, by typewriter, and later by email. Evelyn also loved to bake, sew, needlepoint, and cross-stitch, and she loved to be outdoors, tending to her large garden and many flower beds and mowing the big farmstead lawn.

Evelyn was a life-long member of the First Reformed Church of Alexander, where she served on numerous committees and taught Catechism and Sunday School classes for 25 years. She was also a charter member of the Alexander Women's Club.

Evelyn and Foster spent the winter months of their retirement years in Mesa, Ariz., and they always looked forward to the arrival of spring and their return to their Iowa farm home. In November, 2006, she and Foster moved to an apartment in the Aberdeen Village retirement community in Olathe, Kansas.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents, infant brother John Edward Schulte, sister Arlene Bier, and daughter Janelle Kay Barkema. Evelyn is survived by her husband Foster, brother Calvin C. Schulte of Alexander, and son Alan, daughter-in-law Judi, and grandchildren Kyle and Karen, all of Lenexa, Kan.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., Thursday, August 8, at the First Reformed Church, 214 Brown Street, Alexander, Iowa. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made to Hospice of North Iowa.

Globe Gazette -- Mason City, Iowa
August 7, 2013