Mr. Paul Muyskens, age 87, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, January 10, 2014, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.
There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, January 14, at 11:00am, at the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Jonathan Opgenorth will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a family prayer service on Tuesday, at 10:00am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.
Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Monday, with the family present from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the funeral home.
Paul Eugene was born on April 13, 1926, on a farm south of Alton, the son of Henry and Dena Johanna (Rexwinkle) Muyskens. When he was a year old, his family moved to their farm southeast of Orange City, where he was raised. Following high school, he enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the Philippines and Korea from 1944 to 1946.
Upon his return, he attended Northwestern College in Orange City and earned his Bachelor’s degree at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Later, he received a Master’s degree in counseling from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
On August 2, 1950, Paul married Patricia Carol Oelrich in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They made their home in Sioux Center, where he was a teacher and basketball coach at the high school. In 1959, his team won the Iowa State Basketball Championship, and he received many honors.
Northwestern College then recruited him to coach basketball. He remained at the college for 29 years, wearing many different hats. Because of this, his dedication to Northwestern, and his work there, he was often referred to as “Mr. Northwestern”.
Mr. Muyskens was also active in the Orange City community, serving two terms on the City Council, participating in the Tulip Festival, serving as past president of the Lions Club, belonging to the Pressman-Kosters American Legion Post, and as a member of the Gideons. For many years, he refereed both football and basketball games. During summers and after retirement, he worked as a crop adjuster. He was also instrumental in marketing the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community during its construction.
His faith was most important to him throughout his life. He served as a deacon at the Central Reformed Church in Sioux Center and as an elder and Sunday school superintendent at the Trinity Reformed Church.
Survivors include his wife of more than 63 years, “Pat”; two daughters, Paula Gagne, of Austin, Texas; and Debra and her husband, Bob Adams, of Lake Forest, Illinois; five granddaughters, Jessica, and her husband Matthias Mathaes, of Austin, Texas; Britt Gagne, of Des Moines; Courtney Adams, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Kelsey and Mackenzie Adams, both of Lake Forest; two great-grandchildren, Caitlin and Nickolas Paul Mathaes; a brother and his wife, the Rev. Joe and Jean Muyskens, of Homewood, Illinois; a sister-in-law, Linda Oelrich; and many nephews and nieces;
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters and their husbands, Harriet and the Rev. John Maassen and Lois and the Rev. Robert Hector; a brother-in-law, George Oelrich; and a sister-in-law, Lorraine Oelrich.
Memorials will be directed to the Paul Muyskens Scholarshp Fund for Third World Students at Northwestern College.
