Mrs. Julia McGee, age 68, of Orange City, formerly of Cherokee, passed away on Monday, November 12, 2012, at the Heritage House Nursing Home in Orange City.
There will be a funeral service on Saturday, November 17, at 10:00am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Mark Haverdink will officiate. Interment will follow at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City.
Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Friday, with the family present from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.
Julia Kay was born on June 26, 1944, in Lehigh, Iowa, the daughter of Harold and Margaret (Smith) Aringdale. She was raised in Marathon.
On December 8, 1963, she married Paul Mc Gee. They lived most of their married life in Cherokee. She was hard working, until Parkinson Disease took over in 2007. In October of 2008, she became a resident of the Heritage House.
Julie was a member of the Meriden Evangelical Free Church, where she helped lead the AWANA group. She will be remembered for her faith in God, for her selfless giving and caring, and for her beautiful smile.
Besides being a homemaker, she had her own Home Interiors business for ten years, with her business card stating, “Have hammer, will travel.” She earned the title of queen of her division for northwest Iowa many times. Through this work, she got to know many women in the area.
Mrs. McGee had a green thumb and always had a garden and large flower beds. She enjoyed volunteering with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
She was a vibrant, outgoing person, who was devoted to her family, loving every second she spent with her grandchildren.
Survivors include her former husband and his wife, Paul and Dorothy Mc Gee, of Cherokee; a son and his wife, Troy and Tracy Mc Gee, of West Des Moines, a daughter and her husband, Tonya and Daniel Venema, of Orange City; and five grandchildren, Gabe and Mason Mc Gee, and Cara, Brooke, and Cole Venema.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Duane Aringdale; and a sister, Jan Schmillen.
Memorials will be directed to the future Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.
