Pella —
Johanna Wilma De Haan, ninety-one, born April 3, 1921, was the first of two children born to Teunis and Sarah Van Steenis De Haan at the family farm east of Pella in Mahaska County. Wilma received an eighth grade education at Black Oak Center School in Mahaska County. She was a baptized member of the Second Christian Reformed Church in Pella where she made her confession of faith on October 22, 1939. She was a member of the First Reformed Church for sixty-seven years. She was a faithful follower of Christ and had read through the Bible ten times and was working on the eleventh at the time of her death.
On November 7, 1945, Wilma was united in marriage with Robert Walter Roorda at the Second Christian Reformed Church in Pella. Two children were born into the family: Lois Eileen and Donald Wayne. The family made their home on the Roorda Farm northwest of Pella for a number of years and then on Broadway Street in Pella. The last few years Walter and Wilma resided at Grandview Apartments and Fair Haven East.
Before marriage, Wilma was employed at a seed corn plant and Pella Corporation, then called Rolscreen Factory. She also did domestic work in family homes. After marriage, she was employed at the home of Pella Corporation President Stu and Mrs. Fran Kuyper for twenty years. She enjoyed sewing, sending greeting cards, refinishing furniture, genealogy and doing women’s work in the church. Her love for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren was her priority. Walter and Wilma enjoyed traveling and camping.
Wilma was preceded in death by: her parents, Teunis and Sarah Van Steenis De Haan; her brother, Adrian De Haan; her parents-in-law, Wiegert and Reino Borgman Roorda; sister-in-law, Esther Roorda; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Paul and Eva Mae Roorda; and brother-in-law, Raymond Newendorp.
Wilma is survived by her husband; her two children and their spouses; Lois and Lawrence Van Heukelom of Des Moines and Donald W. and Dixie Roorda of Pella; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Clara Newendorp of Pella and Erma De Haan of Pella; and her brother-in-law, Carl Roorda of Rock Falls, Illinois.
Funeral services were held October 11, 2012, at the First Reformed Church in Pella. Burial took place at the Graceland Cemetery. The Garden Chapel Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
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