Louise Van Woerkom, 90, of Pella, died Aug. 31, 2022. Funeral service was at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Cornerstone Church, Pella. Interment was in Oakwood Cemetery, Pella. Memorials have been designated for Hospice of Pella and Pella Christian High School.
Louise Joan Van Woerkom was born Oct. 18, 1931, to Walter and Marie (Groenendyk) Newendorp. She grew up on a farm between Leighton and Oskaloosa. Louise was baptized in Ebenezer Reformed Church in Leighton. She attended West Weaver Country School through the eighth grade. When Louise was 16, she went to work at Mercy Hospital in Oskaloosa as a nurse’s aide, where she worked for five years.
Nov. 17, 1953, she was united in marriage to John Van Woerkom at Ebenezer Reformed Church. Louise and John started their life together farming near Oskaloosa and then Rose Hill. In 1975, they moved west of Pella and stayed there 19 years before moving into town in 1993. Louise worked as a nurse’s aide in the Pella hospital nursery where she cared for babies for 15 years. She then worked for Hilltop for 15 years, where she was a cook.
While Louise spent time caring for others throughout her career, the job she cherished most was caring for her family in her home. After having her first two children, Bonnie and Jan, she came home with her first set of twins, Karen and Kenny, and another set five years later, Jay and Jon. Louise raised her children on farms near Oskaloosa and Pella with the love and patience only she had. As the years went on, Louise cared for her grandbabies and then the great-grandbabies with that same patience and love. She was always the first one to comfort a crying baby with her touch and a tight swaddle. If she wasn't snuggling babies, she could be found at home putting a puzzle together, reading a book, or enjoying time with family members who had stopped by. Louise had the gift of hospitality and always had a delicious recipe she was cooking or baking to share with her family and friends. The house was always open to the kids and grandkids whose first stop was usually the fridge to see what grandma had just baked. On Sunday mornings after church for nearly 30 years, she hosted her family at coffee time around her kitchen table and gave them a space to enjoy not only her baking, but each other, too.
Once the kids were grown, Louise and John traveled many places in the United States and abroad. For their 25th anniversary, they went to Hawaii, and in 1995, they spent some time traveling in Europe.
Louise was preceded in death by her parents, her parents-in-law Bastian and Gertie Van Woerkom, her brothers Wilbur Newendorp and John Newendorp, sister Beulah Arkema, her brothers-in-law Larry Van Woerkom, Dwight Wanders, and Dormand Arkema, and her sister-in-law Sylvia and Bill Quick.
Those left to cherish her memory are John her husband of 68 years and their children Bonnie (Warren) Van Wyngarden of Peoria, Jan (Kevin) Laverman of Sully, Karen (Don) Branderhorst of Otley, Ken (Janiece) Van Woerkom of Pella, Jay (Jill) Van Woerkom of Pella, Jon (Glenda) Van Woerkom of Pella; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
