Ter Louw, Apollas – 1922-2010

BAKER, BUSEMAN, DE HEER, DE ZWARTE, DIELEMAN, HACKERT, HELLAND, KRUSE, SCHAKEL, STEENHOEK, SYNHORST, TER LOUW, VAN WYK, VERMILLION, VERROS, VISSER, WILLIAMS

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 10/11/2010 at 11:21:59

Apollas Ter Louw, 87, of Pella died Thursday evening, Sept. 30, 2010, at the Hospice of Pella Comfort House in Pella.
A funeral service was this morning at the Third Reformed Church in Pella with interment following at the Oakwood Cemetery in Pella.
Source: Newton Daily News; Monday, October 4, 2010

Additional information from Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home website:
Apollas Ter Louw was born on December 15, 1922, on a farm north of Pella, Iowa in the Sandridge area. Apollas, and his twin brother, Paul, were the youngest of nine children that were born to Henry and Kate (De Heer) Ter Louw. Most of his school years were spent at the Amsterdam School south of Pella. Country school days always brought back memories of putting snapping turtles in outhouses and switching overalls midday with his twin brother, Paul, to confuse the teacher. After graduation, Apollas started farming fulltime as a hired hand for $25 a month. On a Sunday night after church on September 1, 1941, Apollas met Dorothy De Zwarte, a daughter of James and Nettie Verros De Zwarte, through a cousin of hers. They “cruised” the Pella square for a while and Apollas gave her a ride home in his 1938 Chevrolet. Apollas and Dorothy frequently double-dated with Paul and his future wife, Dorothy Synhorst. Exactly two years after they first met, Apollas and Dorothy exchanged marriage vows at the parsonage of the Third Reformed Church in Pella. Many years later Apollas told her that when her family went by the Amsterdam Country School on their way to church, he always looked for her in their car.
To this union five children were born: Lois Arlene, Melvin Dean, Nancy Joyce, Arvin Lee and Shirley Kay. Apollas and Dorothy first lived on a farm four miles south of Pella which overlooked the Des Moines River bottom. They lived in several places in the area where the Red Rock Lake now exists. In 1947 they purchased a farm seven miles northeast of Pella where he farmed the remainder of his working lifetime. Farming brought Apollas great satisfaction and was both his lifetime occupation and his passion. Apollas and Dorothy were blessed with over 56 years of a loving marriage together, and for this they were especially thankful. Then on March 22, 2000, Dorothy succumbed to leukemia at the age of 79 years. Apollas continued living on the farm until becoming a resident at Vriendschap Village in Pella. Farming remained a vital interest and he continued daily visits to the farm and enjoyed having coffee time at McDonalds with friends. On Thursday evening, September 30, 2010, Apollas passed away at the age of 87 years at the Hospice of Pella Comfort House in Pella where he had been a patient since June 3, 2010.
Those left to celebrate his life are his five children and their spouses, 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. They and their families are: Lois and Marvin Van Wyk of Indianola, Iowa,Eric and Peggy Van Wyk,Kevin and Stephanie Van Wyk,Ian, Zackary and Elyssa,Stacie and Brian Baker,Makayla, Evan and Kate;Melvin and Karlyn (Buseman) Ter Louw of Pella, Iowa,Tim and Johna Ter Louw, Melanie and Mike Vermillion,Halie and Anna,Mathew Ter Louw;Nancy Dieleman of Pella, Iowa,Tricia Dieleman,Trevor and Sarah Dieleman, Grant, Claire; Arvin and Gay (Visser) Ter Louw of Pella,Iowa, Jessica and Iwan Williams,Gavin, Elliot,Brad and Erikka Ter Louw, Emery,Anne and Ben Helland; Shirley (David) Kruse of Pickerington, Ohio,John and Candi Kruse,Ben Kruse,Hannah Kruse. Apollas leaves his brother, Paul Ter Louw of Pella; and the following sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Erma (De Zwarte) Steenhoek of Pella, Raymond and Mildred De Zwarte of Oskaloosa, Iowa, Loren and Beulah De Zwarte of Pella.
Apollas was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy; a son-in-law, David Kruse who died in 2004 at the age of 52 years; his parents, Henry and Kate Ter Louw; five brothers and their wives: Raymond Ter Louw, David and Ollie Ter Louw, Benjamin and Esther Ter Louw, Francis Ter Louw, William and Jennie Ter Louw; his two sisters and their husbands: Henrietta and William Schakel, Christine and Karl Hackert; his sisters-in-law, Dorothy (Paul) Ter Louw and Verniece (Paul) Ter Louw; his parents-in-law, James and Nettie De Zwarte and the following brothers-in-law, Marvin De Zwarte and Gilford Steenhoek. Apollas was a lifetime, faithful member of the Third Reformed Church in Pella where he had served as a Sunday School teacher and on the consistory.