Vander Wege, Paul 1940-2022

VANDERWEGE, SCHIPPER, VANDAM

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 3/11/2022 at 18:01:08

Mr. Paul Vander Wege, age 82, of Orange City, went home to Heaven on Monday, February 7, 2022, from the Happy Siesta Health Care Center in Remsen.

There will be a funeral service on Monday, February 14, at 2:00 pm, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City followed by a lunch. The Rev. Mark Haverdink and the Rev. Timothy Breen will officiate. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. Visitation with the family will be on Monday, from 1:00pm to 2:00pm, at the church. Arrangements are with the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Paul was born on January 27, 1940, in Holland, Michigan, the son of Pieter and Esther (Schipper) Vander Wege. He was raised in Holland with his two sisters and brother and made profession of faith at the age of fourteen, at the Trinity Reformed Church in Holland.

He worked various jobs throughout Junior High and High School. His first job, at the age of twelve, was picking blueberries. Following High School graduation, he worked for three years as the produce manager in a grocery store before moving to Denver, Colorado, to attend a Bible School. During this year, he recommitted his life to Jesus Christ, accepting him as his Savior and Lord. He then attended Northwestern College in Orange City from 1961 to 1965, earning his bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

On August 6, 1965, he married Geri Van Dam. Together they had three children, Linae, Brian, and Ryan. Both Paul and Geri taught elementary school in Kingsley for four years before moving to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where Paul taught language arts to sixth graders for 31 years. He also attended the summer master’s program at Morningside College in Sioux City and earned his master’s degree in teaching in 1971. Geri passed away in 1990, after 25 years of marriage, following a hard-fought battle with cancer. The children were twenty, seventeen, and seven years old. As a single father, he feared he wasn’t doing it right, and often prayed for the Lord’s guidance. In 2000, he retired from teaching, then worked at the Earl May Garden Center in Oskaloosa for six years.

Paul married Judith, a widow, on February 11, 2006, in Moses Lake, Washington. They made their home in Oskaloosa until December 2007, when they moved to Orange City, where they became members of the First Reformed Church. Although retired, Paul worked at Northwestern College in the yard and garden maintenance department for two years, making use of his Master Gardener certificate. He then volunteered at Hope Haven Wheelchair Ministry for several years. He enjoyed model railroading and collecting teddy bears, was an avid reader, especially of Max Lucado and Christian fiction, and often used his beautiful voice to sing with Judy as a ministry to nursing home residents.

Survivors include his wife of nearly sixteen years, daughter Linae (Randy) Hartwig, of Altoona, and their five children, Megan (fiancé Wyatt), Zach (Emily), Jeremy, Alex, and Taylor (Nathan); son Brian (Liz) Vander Wege, of Holland, Michigan, and their two daughters, Anna and Lydia; son Ryan (Kari) Vander Wege, of Fort Worth, Texas; sister Rosalie Kleis, of Holland; and seven step-children and their families on Judy’s side.

In addition to his parents and first wife, Paul was preceded in death by an infant brother, Roger; a sister, Nancy (who died in a car accident at fifteen); a brother David, and his wife, Eleanor; and a brother-in-law, John Kleis. He is looking forward to seeing them in Heaven.

Memorials may be directed to the Jesus Film Project or Food for the Hungry.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.