Pella —
Cora Rozendaal was born October 9, 1912, in the village of Pietrman, near the town of Swyndrecht in southern Holland. Her family consisted of two brothers, two sisters, and a half-sister. Her parents were Peter and Maggie Kool Van Gilst. Her mother died when Cora was five years old.
When Cora was eight years old she and her family moved to the United States. They traveled by ship for nine days across the Atlantic Ocean. The family was sponsored by her Dad’s uncle. Upon arriving in the states, her father worked on the farm of Barnie Dunsbergen from May 1920 until March 1921. He then started farming for himself in the Killduff area.
Cora received her early education at a school in Holland and after moving to Iowa she attended the Springhill Country School, Jackson School, and McKinney School where she graduated from the eighth grade in 1926. After her schooling she stayed at home to help with the farm work and household chores.
Cora was united in marriage with Albert Rozendaal on December 6, 1934. They made their home on a farm north of Sully where they raised six boys: Harold, Donald, Alvin, Cassell, Russell, Earl. After Albert retired, Cora did house cleaning in Newton and Rock Creek. They retired in 1972, remained on the farm for another seven years, and then moved to a new home in Sully in 1979.
She enjoyed reading, crocheting Afghans, church sewing days, and Ladies Bible Study. She was a lifelong member of the First Reformed Church in Sully.
Cora passed away Monday morning, January 7, 2013, at the St. Francis Manor in Grinnell at the age of one hundred, two months, twenty-nine days.
Those left to cherish her memory are her six sons and their wives: Harold and Velma Rozendaal of Sully, Donald and Evelyn Rozendaal of Pella, Alvin and Shirley Rozendaal of Sully, Cassell and Beverly Rozendaal of Pella, Russell and Lois Rozendaal of Sully, and Earl and Marcia Rozendaal of Grinnell; eighteen grandchildren; fifty-two great-grandchildren; nine great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Hendricka Rozendaal and Wilma Rozendaal; nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Albert on July 11, 1997; her daughter-in-law Shirley Rozendaal; and great-granddaughter Lily Danhauer.
Funeral services were held January 10, 2013, at the Sully Reformed Church with burial at the Sully Cemetery. The Pella Garden Chapel was in charge of the arrangements.
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