Dick Ver Ploeg, Jr., 90, of Pella and former longtime Sully resident, passed away late Friday evening, June 3, 2022, at The Cottages in Pella just prior to his 91st birthday. Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 8, at Sully First Reformed Church. Interment was in Sully Cemetery. Memorial contributions are preferred for The Gideons or Sully First Reformed Church Building Fund.
Dick J. and Agnes Ada (Van Rees) Ver Ploeg raised three sons: Chadwick Lee, Dick Junior, and Wendell James on a farm south of Sully. Dick Junior was born on July 31, 1931, on their farm north of Pella. He graduated from Battle Ridge Country School and Pella Public High School with the Class of 1949. He learned to play trumpet at an early age and played trumpet in band all four years of high school. He also played baseball his senior year. Junior was baptized and attended the First Reformed Church in Pella until his junior year of high school in 1948 when they began to attend and he made profession of faith at Sully First Reformed Church. He continued to serve faithfully as an elder, deacon, catechism teacher, and Sunday school teacher throughout the years.
Junior was an active member of the Gideons, regularly ministering at the Jasper County Jail in Newton. He was a devoted board member of the Sully Cooperative Exchange for many years. He was a charter member of Lynn Grove Hustlers 4-H Club, later serving as a leader. Early in life, Junior had aspirations of becoming a pilot, enlisted in the United States Air Force, but was denied acceptance due to a physical abnormality in his heart. Junior never gave up his dream of becoming a pilot, still imagining an area just across the road from the farm house for an airstrip.
June 12, 1953, Junior and Joyce Vrylee Van Genderen were united in marriage at Sully First Reformed Church, and to this union three children were born: Teryl Kirk, Scott Lee, and Carla Kay.
Junior began his lifetime career of farming with his father soon after graduation. Junior enjoyed raising and selling purebred Hampshire pigs and also raising feeder cattle. The farm is where he chose to be with his family and live until moving into Sully in 2006. In July 2021, he and Joyce became residents at The Cottages in Pella.
Those who will cherish the memory of his patience, kind heart, and gentleness are his wife of nearly 69 years, Joyce; and their three children: Teryl (Carol) Ver Ploeg of Sully, Scott (Lisa) Ver Ploeg of Hartville, MO, and Carla (Rick) Fopma of Lynnville; and their families whom they followed faithfully in their various activities.
Junior also leaves his younger brother, Wendell Ver Ploeg, of Sedona, AZ, of his original family. He was preceded to Glory by his granddaughter Jessalyn Marie Ver Ploeg on Mar. 29, 1999; his parents; his brother, Chadwick Ver Ploeg and his wife, Irene; his sister-in-law, Erma Ver Ploeg; his parents-in-law, Leonard and Jennie (Brand) Van Genderen; and the following sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Lucille and Vernon Huyser and Claris and Sylvia Van Genderen.
Junior thoroughly enjoyed God’s beautiful creation on the farm where he would walk and talk with God. He always greeted people with a smile as he walked through life with joy. His family will always be grateful for his amazing spiritual legacy.
