Dorothy Jane Lane was born Feb. 15, 1925, to Mary (Ver Steegt) and Neal Vander Leest, in a rural farmhouse in Jasper County. She passed away June 11, 2018, at Windsor Manor in Grinnell. Funeral services were held June 15 at Sully Community Church. Memorial donations may be given to the Sully Community Church Missions Fund in her memory.
When Dorothy was in eighth grade, rural kids had to go to Newton to take a test in order to get their certificate. She was worried she would not pass, but she did with flying colors! In her early teens, Dorothy was saved and was baptized in the Baptist Church in Monroe. She was also active in their youth group. During World War II, at the age of 17, Dorothy went to work at the One Minute Factory in Kellogg making land mine covers. She worked there for three years.
She met and married Everett “Brick” Lane in Bloomfield on Oct. 26, 1945. They lived in an apartment in Brooklyn, where Brick worked for the REA, and in June of 1949, they moved to Sigourney for the next 50+ years. After she married, she joined a bowling league and she was very good at it and had many trophies to prove it. Dorothy liked the outdoors. She liked walking, sledding, and sitting outside people watching and bird watching. She enjoyed gardening, especially her red roses. Dorothy also enjoyed crocheting, crossword puzzles, and watching the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Chicago Cubs.
Dorothy was the answer to her neighbors’ prayers. When they would go away for a weekend or on vacation she would take care of all the watering that had to be done, took care of newspapers, mail, and anything else that needed to be done. She did not do this for just a few, she did this for the whole block. She made holiday foods and gave it to the neighbors. She never came to your home without having some food for the meal.
She is survived by her sisters Helen (Fred) Schmidt of Sully and Evelyn Roll of Colfax; and her sister-in-law Doris Vander Leest.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her siblings: Gardena died in infancy, Gertrude (Neal) Ver Steegt, Cora (Gerrit) Van Wyk, Walt (Irene) Vander Leest, Jim (Artie) Vander Leest, Wilma (Bill) Van Genderen, Cliff (Ruth) Vander Leest, Lester Vander Leest, Viola Vander Leest, Vernon (Janice) Vander Leest and his twin Verlan Vander Leest, and Robert Vander Leest; and her brother-in-law, Ronald Roll.
A special thank you to Maddy Ervin and Jan Parcell for all their friendship to Dorothy.
