Henry R. Van Kooten, 90, of Pella, passed away Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, at The Cottages in Pella. Funeral ser-vices were held Tuesday, Jan. 24, at Second Christian Reformed Church, Pella. Interment was in Oakwood Cemetery, Pella. Memorial contributions are encouraged for the Second Christian Reformed Church in Pella.
Henry Raymond Van Kooten was the oldest son of nine children born to Cornelius and Jennie (Dieleman) Van Kooten. He was born Oct. 24, 1926, near Sully. Henry attended Sully Christian School and was baptized and made profession of his faith at Sully Christian Reformed Church. Apr. 7, 1948, he was united in marriage with Virginia Tanna Kloosterman and to this union six children were born. Henry and Virginia farmed around the Sully area for 12 years before moving to Pella. For the next 14 years, they continued to farm alongside a dairy operation. In 1974, Henry made the decision to quit farming and start a farm tiling and trenching business, which he did until he fully retired in 2001 at the age of 75. Henry loved tiling and had truly found his passion for work! In 1987, Henry survived a trench cave-in while working near Otley and was buried alive. Through the help of many people onsite who dug him out, he was life-flighted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines and only suffered minor injuries. Henry also survived two heart attacks during his lifetime along with other various medical conditions. Through it all, Henry remained faithful to God and stated, “The Lord has been good to me!” Although Henry loved nothing more than “digging in the dirt,” he also enjoyed bowling and going for coffee time at Dutch Mill Lumber and Vermeer Iowa. In 2006, Henry and Virginia moved into Pella and relocated to MidTowne Apartments. In 2014 when additional assistance was needed for Virginia, they moved to Vriendschap Village. In April 2015, Henry broke his hip, requiring rehabilitation and additional skilled care. The additional need for on-going daily assistance for both Henry and Virginia necessitated them to move to The Cottages in July 2015.
At the time of his death, Henry was a member of the Second Christian Reformed Church in Pella where he had served as an elder and Sunday school teacher.
Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 68 years, Virginia Van Kooten; his five daughters and one son: Judy (Marvin) Van Veldhuizen of Oskaloosa, Ken (Linda) Van Kooten of Deer Park, TX, Sheryl Hixson of Pella, Eileen (Duane) Van Kooten-Schmitt of Dallas Center, Marcia (JR) Pearson, Verna (Tim) Ver Meer, all of Pella; 18 grandchildren; 38 great-grand-children; three sisters: Cornelia (Charlie) Jansen of Grand Rapids, MI, Delia (Johnnie) DeJong of Sully, and Norma (Carroll) Harthoorn of Sully; and two brothers, Delmer (Wilma) Van Kooten of Pella and Edward (Judy) Van Kooten of Sully.
Henry was preceded in death by his son-in-law, Duane Schmitt; his great-grandson, Reuben Van Veldhuizen; his parents; two brothers, Clarence Van Kooten and Daniel Van Kooten; his sisters Jean and her husband, Kenneth Vos and Ida and her husband Alberthus Harsselaar; his parents-in-law Case and Elizabeth (Van Gilst) Kloosterman; and brothers-in-law, Junior De Bruin and Marvin Branderhorst.
Henry lived out his faith to his family. His children often recall their parents’ evening ritual of kneeling by their bedside to pray and their daily reading of the Bible.
