Martha Elizabeth (Whitney) VANDERPLOEG COOPER

VANDERPLOEG, WHITNEY, COOPER, HOWLETT, FLEIS, BRINK, GERDES, SCHWADERER, RUSH, CASS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/16/2009 at 10:48:13

Martha E. (VanderPloeg) Cooper, 94, of Garner died Wednesday (September 26, 2007) at the Hancock County Memorial Hospital in Britt. Funeral services were held 10 A.M., Monday at the Garner Evangelical Free Church with Rev. Terry Baxter officiating. Burial was in Evergreen Cemetery in Britt. Cataldo Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Martha Elizabeth (VanderPloeg) Cooper, the daughter of Ralph and Gertrude (Howlett) Whitney, was born November 6, 1912 at Britt. At the age of 16, she accepted the Lord as her personal Savior at a special meeting at the Evangelical Free Church. She graduated from Britt High School in 1931 and continued her education at Britt Junior College. Martha then taught country school at Erin No.1 for four years. On June 3, 1936 she was married to Sam VanderPloeg at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. They made their home in rural Britt where they raised their four children. Sam passed away on October 26, 1970. On May 7, 1977 she was married to Albert Cooper at the Evangelical Free Church in Britt. They lived in Britt for a year before moving to Kanawha. After Albert passed away in 1997 she moved back to Britt and later to Prairie View Apartments in Garner. In 2003 she moved to Cardinal Grove and in 2005 to Concord Care Center in Garner. Martha enjoyed gardening, needlework, quilting and loved to bake and cook. She was well known for her caramel rolls. She was a member of the Garner Evangelical Free Church. In her younger years she was active in WMS, White Cross, church choir, Child Evangelism Club and was a leader in the Friendship Bible Coffees. She also belonged to the Happy Homemakers Birthday Club.

Martha is survived by her four children, Roger (Marilyn) VanderPloeg of Mason City, Robert (Kathryn) VanderPloeg of Lindsay, OK, Vance (Gail) VanderPloeg of Greybull, WY and Mary Beth (Wayne) Fleis of Greendale, WI; step-children, Anita (Dave) Brink of Grand Rapids, MI, Larry (Jan) Cooper of Kanawha, Bonita (Jim) Geerdes of Wellsburg and Terry (Lynn) Cooper of Thatcher, AZ; grandchildren, Marlys (Curt) Schwaderer, Judith (Charles) Rush, Linda VanderPloeg, Todd (Kathreen) VanderPloeg, Mark (Karrie Jo) VanderPloeg, Brian (Heather) VanderPloeg, Shawn VanderPloeg, Daniel (Julie) VanderPloeg, Steve (Misty) VanderPloeg, TJ VanderPloeg and Mariam (Chris) Cass; twenty great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her husbands, Sam and Albert; her parents; and brothers, Orville, Charles and Wayne Whitney.

Britt News Tribune, Iowa
October 1, 2007