Vande Burgt, Ella Mae (Mrs. Wilfred H.) 1932-2021

VANDEBURGT, RUISCH, VLIEGER

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/10/2021 at 10:09:04

Mrs. Ella Mae Vande Burgt, age 89, of Hull, passed away on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, at the Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls.

There will be a funeral service on Saturday, July 17, at 1:00pm, at the First Christian Reformed Church in Hull. The Rev. Loren Kotman and the Rev. Joel Wories will officiate. Interment will follow the service at the Hope Cemetery in Hull. Visitation with the family will be on Saturday, from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, at the church. Arrangements are with the Oolman Funeral Home in Hull.

Ella Mae was born on May 4, 1932, in Orange City, the daughter of Henry and Alice (Ruisch) Vlieger. She was raised on a farm near Maurice and attended the Maurice school through her sophomore year when she and her mother moved to Orange City. She graduated from the Orange City High School and completed one year at Northwestern Junior College in Orange City, after which she taught in a country school for a short time.

On February 12, 1951, she was united in marriage to Wilfred H. Vande Burgt in Maurice. The couple briefly lived in Sparta, Wisconsin, while “Willy” was serving in the United States Army, stationed at Camp McCoy. Following his honorable discharge, they returned to Northwest Iowa and settled in Hull, where they raised their family. In addition to being a wife and mother, Ella Mae worked as a bookkeeper for her husband’s feed grinding business and for the Hull Christian School. Wilfred passed away on July 29, 2013, in Hull after more than 62 years of marriage.

Ella Mae was a member of the First Christian Reformed Church in Hull, where she participated in the Mission Guild and Coffee Break. She was also active in the Hull Christian School Circle, the American Legion Auxiliary, taught Friendship Bible classes, and corrected Bible lessons for the Crossroads Bible Institute. During her retirement years, she also volunteered at Hope Haven, Justice For All, The Hull Treasure Chest, and Meals on Wheels. She enjoyed gardening and canning her produce, reading, doing crossword puzzles, playing games, and attending her grandchildren’s sporting events and school activities.

Survivors include her five children and their spouses, Evonne Wielenga, of Maurice; Jerry Vande Burgt, and his wife, Margie, of Salem, Oregon; Beverly, and her husband, LaVerne Sheldahl, of Hull; Donna, and her husband, Craig Faber, of Rock Valley; and Harv Vande Burgt, and his wife Marlene, also of Salem; nineteen grandchildren; and 36 great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a son-in-law, Jerry Wielenga; a granddaughter, Naomi Sheldahl; three sisters, Jeanette Vlieger, Laura Pluim Korver, and Margaret Hop; and four brothers, William Vlieger, James Vlieger, Harold Vlieger, and John Vlieger.

Memorials may be directed to the Western Christian High School in Hull, or the Hull Christian School.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.