Vermeer, James 1912-2005

VERMEER, BORGMAN, NECK

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 6/25/2012 at 15:21:18

James Vermeer
Born: November 12, 1912
Died: Januray 19, 2005
James "Jim" Ver.meer, 92, of Sioux Center died Wednesday, January 19,2005 at Sioux Center Community Nursing Facility.
Funeral services were Saturday at 1 p.m. at Central Reformed Church of "Sioux Center with the Rev. Van Rathbun and Rev. Harold Lenters officiating. Interment was in Memory Gardens Cemetery of Sioux Center. Vermeer was born November 25, 1912, son of Peter E. and Rena (Borgman) Vermeer. He grew up on a farm a few miles southeast of Sioux Center and, after attending a one-room country grade school, graduated from Sioux Center High School in 1929. While farming with his father for the next few years, he completed a correspondence course in accounting with the Humboldt Business College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, receiving a certificate as "junior accountant." In 1934, he was hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help collect data on the number of acres of corn raised and the number of hogs produced on each farm in Sioux County.

He graduated from Iowa State College in 1939 and earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University in 1940. He married Hazel Neck on March 29, 1940. After graduation, they returned to Ames, where he was employed by the Iowa Agricultural Extension Service. He received an appointment as an intern in 1941 with the Farm Security Administration, U.S.D.A. in Washington, D.C. After his internship, he was transferred to the regional office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

During World War II, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving for three years on merchant ships, after which he was transferred to the Naval Supply Depot in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. When he returned to civilian life, he worked with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics in Washington, D.C., until his retirement in 1976. While living in both Arlington, Virginia, and then Radford, Virginia, he was involved in both church and community affairs. In the 1950s, the Clarendon Presbyterian Church in Arlington outgrew its facilities and he became one of about 125 members who organized a new congregation, named the Church of the Covenant. He served as trustee and elder of the Covenant congregation.

After moving to Radford, he became a member of the Presbyterian Church of Radford where he served as an elder. He was also a member of the Lions Club of Radford, Emergency Medical Services Board and, for one year, was chairman of the Assessment Review Board.
In 1992, the couple became the first occupants of the Regency Apartments and became members of Central Reformed Church, both of Sioux Center. He spent many happy hours playing golf and analyzing stocks and the stock market. He maintained a lifelong love of gardening and landscaping.

Survivors include his wife of 64 years, of Sioux Center; his daughter and son-in-law, Lynn and Bob Burns of Boston, Massachusetts; two grandsons; his sister, Edith Campbell of Sioux City; brother and sister-in-law, Elrich and Harriet Vermeer of Sioux Center; sister-in-law, Effie Vermeer of Sioux Center; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brothers, David and Harold E. Vermeer; and brother and sister-in-law, Bernard and Wilmina Vermeer. Source: Sioux Center News of January 26, 2005.