Perry Vanderplaats

PERRY VANDER PLAATS was born to Johannes “Joe” and Anna (Osenga) Vander Plaats on September 25, 1932 on the family farm in Fountain Prairie Township of Pipestone County, Minnesota. When he was one year old, he moved with his family to a farm in Aetna Township of Pipestone County. In 1941, they moved to a farm in Fountain Prairie Township where he was raised and attended country school in District #72, northwest of Holland, Minnesota. He continued his education at the high school in Verdi, Minnesota. After his graduation in 1950, he helped his father on the farm. On January 12, 1954, he entered the U.S. Army and served in France and Germany during the Korean War. After his discharge from the service on December 14, 1955, he returned to the family farm and worked with his father. When his father retired, Perry took over the farming operation. In 1992, he semi-retired from farming. Even after he completely retired, he still enjoyed being an extra hand to his nephew Mike Vander Plaats on the farm when things needed to be done. On April 15, 2011, he suffered from congestive heart failure and entered the Pipestone County Medical Center. On April 27, 2011, he became a resident of the Good Samaritan Communities of Pipestone where he died early Friday morning, July 8, 2011, at the age of 78 years, nine months and 13 days.

Perry was a member of the Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Minnesota. He was also a member of the Woodrow Wilson American Legion Post 506 in Ruthton, Minnesota. For many years, he enjoyed bowling on several bowling leagues. Over the years, he received many trophies for his bowling. Throughout his lifetime on the farm, he was alway busy tinkering on various projects and working on old tractors. He was an avid reader, and he especially like to read western stories.

He is lovingly remembered by his four sisters, Tracy DeKam of Ruthton, Minnesota; Betty DeVries and her husband Paul of DeMotte, Indiana, Clarene Burgers of Inwood, Iowa, and Joanne Fischer of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota; his sister-in-law, Harriet Vander Plaats of Pipestone, Minnesota; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Andrew Vander Plaats; one sister, Nettie Fieldhouse; and an infant sister, Joyce.