Winnie Vander Vliet

WINNIE VANDER VLIET was born January 11, 1932 to Johannes and Grace (Teering) Van Holland on a farm between Rock Valley and Inwood, Iowa. She was only able to speak Dutch when she enrolled at Christian school. She then learned English and taught the language to her parents. After completing the eighth grade, she enrolled into Rock Valley public schools. During this time, she became a telephone operator. She graduated from high school and on November 29, 1950, Winnie was united in marriage to Cornelius “Cornie” Vander Vliet at the First Reformed Church in Rock Valley. The couple made their residence on Cornie’s parents’ homestead near Carmel, Iowa. Their marriage was blessed with seven children. In 1965, they moved their family to a farm near Rock Valley where they worked the land until 1967, when they moved to a farm near Luverne, Minnesota. In addition to farming and raising their family, Winnie went to work as a nurse’s aide at the Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Home in Luverne for over the next ten years. She then went to work as a nurse supervisor at Habilitation Services, Inc. for the next 23 years. Winnie retired in 2003 to care for her husband as he faced health concerns. After three years of loving care, Cornie died on October 25, 2006. In 2010, Winnie moved into the Oaks Senior Living Apartments. In 2014, she moved to the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills, Minnesota where on Monday, July 15, 2019, Winnie went to be with her Lord at the age of 87 years, six months and four days.

Winnie was a member of the American Reformed Church in Luverne and was a spiritual life leader of Mary Circle for over 20 years. She enjoyed gardening, crocheting and knitting. Over the years, she was proud to have made many blankets for her grandchildren. Her passion laid in playing the piano and spending time with her family.

Winnie’s spirit will continue to reside in the hearts of her five children, Dwayne (Brenda) Vander Vliet of Luverne, Lois (Bruce) Beukema of Hayfield, Minnesota, Connie (Giles) Hudson of The Colony, Texas, Marilynn (Mark) Long of Larchwood, Iowa, and Debra (Rick) Renken of Omaha, Nebraska; son-in-law, Craig Vastenhout of Kenneth, Minnesota; 17 grandchildren, David (Patti) Vander Vliet, Cory Vander Vliet, Brett (Denise) Vander Vliet, and Amber Vander Vliet, Christy (Jeremy) Menning, Nicole (Brian) Larsen, Matthew (Becki) Beukema, Nickolas (Micah) Beukema, Rachel Beukema, Angela Hudson, Christin (Jordy) Smith, Joshua Hudson, Jason (Kayla) Long, Dan Long, Kristi Long, Mercedes Renken and Colton Renken; 22 great-grandchildren; four siblings, Gerrit (Marilyn) Van Holland of Rock Valley, Iowa, Dick (Ruth) Van Holland of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Joe (Gerry) Van Holland of Sioux Falls, and Mary Jacobsma of Brandon, South Dakota. She was preceded in death by her husband, Cornie; son, Larry Vander Vliet; and daughter, Delores Vastenhout.