June C. Woudstra

Mrs. June Woudstra, age 86, of Orange City, passed away on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City. There will be a memorial service on Saturday, December 14, at 10:30am, at the Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Robert Drenten 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 Saturday, at 9:30am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City. Visitation with the family will be on Friday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, at the funeral home. June Carolyn was born on June 25, 1933, in Cuttlerville, Michigan. She became the second of four lively daughters born to Nicholas and Dorothy (Laninga) Vander Vliet. She was baptized in the name of the Trinity into the Christian Reformed faith and attended Cuttlerville Christian Grade School and graduated from the Grand Rapids Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As a young girl, June developed Rheumatic fever, which resulted in a serious heart condition, that held her bedridden for two consecutive summers. It was there, while listening to the other children laugh and play through the confines of her bedroom window, she promised herself that if she lived, she would live fully and completely, holding nothing back. And live, she did! Her strength of character was legendary, and her beauty and grace flowed with impeccable style. She loved the symphony, fine arts, fashion, Broadway shows, musicals, and dance. She was full of laughter, energy, and adventure. She also loved to play the piano and to sing. Her positive attitude toward life and love was instantly contagious, and her trust in God was her life's fuel. In 1952, she graduated from Pine Rest Nursing School in Grand Rapids. She had put herself through school by working nights as a switchboard operator for Michigan Bell Telephone Company. With skilled and gentle hands, she began her nursing career, caring for patients at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids. She also assisted her father who was, at the time, Director of Nursing at Pine Rest Christian Psychiatric Hospital. On March 16, 1954, she married Alfred Leo Woudstra. They made their home in Orange City where Al was part of his family's business, Woudstra Meat Market. Together, she and Al became the proud parents of five rambunctious children. As a mother of five, she set a remarkable example for true abiding joy as she shared her love of Christ with all. June continued her nursing career in Orange City, first at the Heritage House Nursing Home and later at the Orange City Hospital Long Term Care Facility. Over the years, she also assisted many other local nursing homes by filling in the nursing voids where needed. After their children had grown, June and Al spent their winters in sunny, Mesa, Arizona. There they enjoyed hiking, biking, meeting old and new friends, and hosting family in their wintertime home in Val Vista Village. June was also able to care for patients at Mesa Christian Rehabilitation Center as well as Scottsdale Plaza Healthcare Facility. June and Al enjoyed 65 lively years of marriage together. They shared their love and showered it upon their large family. They were both passionate supporters of Christian education and faithful charter members of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church. June was filled with an unending love and undying compassion for all who were lost, suffering, or disabled. Long before she herself succumbed to Alzheimer's disease, she had been an outspoken advocate for all the precious people trapped inside the walls of dementia. She brought light, guidance, and encouragement to everyone as she displayed Christ’s immense love and understanding. June was tender, loving, warmly vivacious, and high-spirited. She is deeply loved and she will be deeply missed! “The hope of all Christians is to live eternally in the presence of God. Heaven will be a time to experience the glory of God in ways impossible while confined to our present bodies and brains. There will be no more dementia, and those afflicted by dementia will say with all other believers, ‘I shall know fully even as I have been fully known’”1 Cor. 13:12. -quote from John Dunlop MD, Johns Hopkins University She is survived by her beloved husband, Alfred; their five children and their spouses, Robert (Robin Sparpana) Woudstra, William (Laura) Woudstra, Carolyn (David) Leusink, Judith (Matthew) Armstrong, and Mary (Robert) Kohout; 15 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; two sisters and their husbands, Doreen (Gordon) Potter and Linda (Arch) Herrema; five sisters-in-law, Sally De Groot, Silvia Veltkamp, Marilyn Kroeze, Joyce Vande Greind, and Vernell Kuiper; and one brother-in-law, Robert Eckhardt. She was preceded in death by her parents, Nicholas and Dorothy Vander Vliet; her husband’s parents, James and Hattie Woudstra; a sister, Ruth Eckhardt; and six brothers-in-law, John De Groot, Dick Veltkamp, LeRoy Woudstra, Gary Kroeze, Bernard Vande Griend, and Percy Vander Tuig. Memorials may be directed to the Orange City Christian School or Bethany Christian Services.