Willie Kuyper

WILHELMINA KUYPER was born to Marinus and Adriana (Buitendyk) Overgaauw on October 14, 1925 on a farm near Leota, Minnesota. When she was a small child, she moved with her parents to a farm by Woodstock, Minnesota where she was raised and attended country school. Upon completion of her education, she helped at home and on the family farm. On January 8, 1950, she was united in marriage to Gilbert Kuyper at the Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Minnesota. Following their marriage, they lived on a farm near Holland, Minnesota. In 1968, they purchased a farm north of Woodstock, Minnesota. During this time, Willie stayed at home to raise their children and to help with the farm work. In 1991, they built a new home in Pipestone, Minnesota. She was diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s disease in 2006. On August 1, 2011, she became a resident of the Good Samaritan Communities of Pipestone where she lived until her death on Monday, April 27, 2015 at the age of 89 years, six months and 13 days.

While living in the Holland-Woodstock area, she and her husband were members of the Christian Reformed Church in Holland. When they moved to Pipestone, they became members of the Christian Reformed Church there. She was an active church member, being involved in the Girls Society as a young person, and then the Ladies Aid after she was married. She enjoyed traveling, and she and her husband spent time each winter in Arizona while her daughter lived there. She was an excellent cook and an immaculate housekeeper. Willie was a gentle soul and always had a smile for everyone. She will be remembered for her famous Mounds bars, the way she poured coffee and her signature double wave goodbye.

She is lovingly remembered by her husband of 65 years, Gilbert Kuyper of Pipestone, Minnesota; three children, Gloria Fischer and her husband Dan of Wadena, Minnesota, Marlyn Kuyper and his wife Pam of Holland, Minnesota, and Myron Kuyper and his wife Laurie of Cottonwood, Minnesota; eight grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; two brothers, Case Overgaauw and his wife Joan of Bellflower, California and Peter Overgaauw and his wife Marjory of Kent, Washington; and two sisters, Cornelia Zeinstra of Pipestone, Minnesota and Jacoba Boersma of Pipestone, Minnesota; and two sisters-in-law, Carol Overgaauw of Mercedes, Texas and Johanna Overgaauw of Ontario, California. She was preceded in death by her parents; one great-granddaughter, Heather Williams; five brothers, Jake, Frank, Willis, John and Adrian Overgaauw; and one sister Pearl Smith.