Mildred G. (Van Wyk) Bogaards, 83, of Pella, passed away Feb. 23, 2015, at Pella Regional Health Center. Funeral services were held Thursday, Feb. 26, at 11 a.m. at Third Reformed Church, Pella. Interment was in Oakwood Cemetery at Pella. Memorials may be given for the dialysis department of Pella Regional Health Center. On Monday morning, Feb. 23, she passed away at Pella Regional Health Center.
Mildred Geraldine Van Wyk was born in Lynn Grove Township in rural Jasper County on May 7, 1931. She was the oldest of five children born to Henry G. and Clara H. (Ver Steegt) Van Wyk. Mildred attended country grade school and grew up near Sully. In April 1951, she and Howard Dale Bogaards were united in marriage and to this union two sons were born, Doyle Eugene and Daryl Laverne, and a daughter, Karla Luann, who was stillborn in 1966. Since 1951, Mildred lived in Pella where she worked at the Rolscreen Company for a short time. She then became a cook at the Dutch Buffet for over 14 years and was employed at the Hilltop Manor for 17 years. Mildred enjoyed cooking very much and helping out the residents at Hilltop. It was a labor of love, and it made her feel good. Mildred was always considered a very good cook and often received many compliments. Mildred was self-supporting and although a somewhat independent person, enjoyed the company of her original family and the presence of her church family. She remained faithful as a mother, grandmother, and sister.
For the past eight years, Mildred received renal dialysis weekly at the Pella Regional Health Center.
Those who will remember Mildred are her son, Doyle E. (Donna) Bogaards of Pella, and their two children, Shane and Cassie Bogaards and their two daughters, Kinsey Leigh and Logan Jade, of Fishers, IN, and their daughter Ashley and Durk Pearston of Ankeny. Mildred’s survivors also include her three brothers and their wives: Gilbert (Marlene) Van Wyk of Sully, Orville (Viola) Van Wyk of Newton, and Gary (Alberdina) Van Wyk of Sully; and her sister, Margaret Ann (Newton Keith) Coop of West Liberty, KY.
Mildred was preceded in death by her son, Daryl Laverne, who was killed in an auto/pedestrian accident in 1961 at the age of four years, a defining time in Mildred’s life; her daughter, Karla Luann; a great-grandchild, Parker William Bogaards; her parents, Henry G. and Clara Van Wyk; and her brother-in-law, Newton Keith Coop.
Mildred was a member of the Third Reformed Church in Pella. She enjoyed raising flowers, walking, and reading.
