Hazel Maxine (Brouwer) Hamilton, 92, formerly of Barnes City and Lynnville, died Mon-day, May 22, 2017, at The Cottages in Pella. A funeral service was held Friday, May 26, at the Barnes City Community Christian Church. Memorials in Hazel’s name are to be used for veterans.
Hazel, the daughter of Andrew and Antoinette “Nettie” (Van Helten) Brouwer, was born Jan. 16, 1925, in Montezuma. She attended country school, Pleasant No. 7, Montezuma, and Montezuma High School, graduating in 1942. Hazel was employed as a bookkeeper at the Montezuma Light Plant, but left to care for her ill mother.
Sept. 5, 1945, she married Charles Howard Hamilton, and in the early years of their marriage, they farmed in the Barnes City area. Hazel worked at the school and various other jobs. Always being involved in their church and lay missionary work, when they retired in 1989, they moved to Mission, TX, and helped with a Missionary Help Ministry. Retiring a second time in 2006, they returned to Iowa, living in Lynnville to be closer to family. Since 2016, Hazel has lived in The Cottages in Pella.
Hazel was a caring and loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She was an excellent cook and seamstress. All of her family benefited from her lovingly- crocheted afghans and other handcrafted items.
Hazel is survived by her children: Rodney Duane (Linda) Hamilton of Barnes City, Joyce (Dwight) Beyer of Lynnville, and Sara (Adrian) Hoover of Cedar Rapids; grandchildren, Brad (Dawn) Hamilton of Malcom, Lisa (Matt) Facile of Montezuma, Bryan (Ami) Hamilton of Centerville, Chantelle (Brett) Lundberg of Newton, Emily (Matthew) Ver Meer of Hannibal, MO, and Mallory (Brett) Bradshaw of Hannibal, MO; 16 great-grandchildren; and a brother, Gary Brouwer of Grinnell.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charles in 2007; and son, Dennis, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968 and buried at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
