Mr. Dick Van Gelder, age 89, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, formerly of Orange City, passed away on Monday, May 5, 2014, at the Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls.
There will be a funeral service on Friday, May 9, at 3:00pm, at the First Christian Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Mark Vande Zande will officiate. Following refreshments, interment will be at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. Visitaiton will be after 3:00pm on Thursday, with the family present from 3:00pm to 6:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.
Dick, the son of William and Afke ‘Effie’ (Feenstra) Van Gelder, was born on September 13, 1924 in Ireton, Iowa. He was the third of eight children to be born in the family. At the age of three, his family moved to South Dakota. They stayed for one year and then returned to Iowa to settle in Orange City. Dick attended elementary school in Newkirk with eight other students his age. He later attended high school with 39 classmates.
On May 22, 1949, he married Helen Hubers during a regular church worship service. They were blessed with five children.
Dick worked as a printer and partial owner of a local newspaper and later attended watchmaker school in Elgin, Illinois. He graduated from Elgin in 1955 and took a job as an apprentice at Jerry’s Jewelry in Hawarden. In 1957, he opened Van Gelder Jewelry in Orange City, where he continued working until his retirement in 1984.
He was an active member of the First Christian Reformed Church in Orange City, and he served numerous terms as a deacon and an elder. He also served on the board of directors for the Orange City Christian School. In later years, he enjoyed spending winter months in Mesa, Arizona, where he filled his time with woodworking projects, a variety of crafts, teaching computer skills to retirees, learning Spanish, and visiting with friends and siblings.
When health issues made it impossible for Mr. and Mrs. Van Gelder to live in Arizona, they moved to the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community in Orange City. Continued declining health forced them to move to the Dow Rummel Village a few years later, where they remained until his death.
He is survived by his wife of almost 65 years, Helen; four children and their spouses, Harvey Keith Van Gelder, of Manhattan, Montana; Beverly Jane and Scott Allan Herrema, of Denver, Colorado; Evan Jay and Krista Lynn Van Gelder, of Pella; and Judy Kay and Mick E. Vanden Bosch of Sioux Falls; a daughter-in-law, Ardyth Marie Van Gelder, of Denver; sixteen grandchildren, Angela Van Gelder; Derek Van Gelder, and his wife, Stacy; Kristopher Van Gelder; Dylan Van Gelder; Dallas Van Gelder; Abigail Van Gelder; Jordan Herrema; Austin Herrema; Shelby Herrema; Blake Herrema; Danielle, and her husband, Collin Barnes; Emily Van Gelder; Seth Van Gelder; Michaela Vanden Bosch; Anisa Vanden Bosch; and Ciana Vanden Bosch; four great-grandchildren; two brothers and their wives, Wilbert and Clara Van Gelder and Arnold and Marjorie Van Gelder; three sisters, Margaret, and her husband, Vernon Muilenburg, Theresa Goslinga; and Carolyn Vande Brake; and two sisters-in-law, Marjorie Van Gelder and Marcia Van Gelder. He is also survived by Helen’s siblings, Nelvy Siebersma; and Sylvan ‘Bud’ Hubers, and his wife, Bernice; and her two sisters-in-law, Margaret ‘Mike’ Hubers and Jane Hubers.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, David Wayne Van Gelder; a granddaughter, Amanda Van Gelder; two brothers, Raymond and Edward Van Gelder; a brother-in-law, Stewart Goslinga; and Helen’s siblings and their spouses, Albert and Elsie Hubers; William and Bertha Hubers; Henry Hubers; Elmer Hubers; and Stan Siebersma.
