Brouwer, Melvin 1927-2021

BROUWER, KOOPMANS, BRAS

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/10/2021 at 10:06:06

Mr. Melvin Brouwer, age 94, of Orange City, passed away on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, at the Good Samaritan Society in Le Mars.

There will be a funeral service on Saturday, July 10, at 10:30am, at the First Christian Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Mark Vande Zande will officiate. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. Arrangements are with the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Melvin Reynold was born on May 17, 1927, in Orange City, the son of John and Tracy (Koopmans) Brouwer. For a short time, his family lived in Minnesota, before returning to Orange City, where he attended the Orange City Christian School through the eighth grade.

He was united in marriage to Marilyn Ruth Bras on February 15, 1952, in Ocheyedan. They made their home on a farm northeast of Orange City, where they raised their two children and Melvin worked as a self-employed truck driver and farmer.

Mr. Brouwer was a lifelong member of the First Christian Reformed Church in Orange City, where he was baptized as an infant and had served as a deacon. He enjoyed going to auctions, always looking for antiques, and working on old cars and pickup trucks.

Survivors include his wife of more than 69 years, Marilyn; his two children and their spouses, Judy and Gordon Hemping, of Ramona, California; and Steve and Carol Brouwer, of Orange City; two grandchildren, Steven Brouwer, and his wife, Corinne, of Le Mars; and Kristin Brouwer, of Orange City; two great-grandchildren, Jeremy and Caleb Brouwer; and a sister-in-law, Verla Elgersma, of Sanborn.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters and their husbands, Gertrude and Edward Bouw and Nellie and Joubert Wassenaar; a brother and his wife, John and Nellie Brouwer; his wife’s parents, Tunis and Agnes (Zevenbergen) Bras; her two brothers, Lloyd Bras and Raymond Bras, and his wife, Mary; and her brother-in-law, Gerald Elgersma.

Memorials may be directed to the Orange City Area Home Health and Hospice.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.