Raymond Veenstra, 87, formerly of Reasnor, passed away Saturday eve-ning, July 23, 2022, at The Cottages in Pella.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 28, at Cornerstone Church, Pella. Interment will follow in the Oakwood Cemetery, Pella. Memorial contributions are preferred for Pella Christian High School or the youth group at Cornerstone Church.
Raymond Veenstra was born Dec. 29, 1934, in New Sharon (his parents couldn’t get to Oskaloosa because of snowy roads). He was the third of four children born to John W. “Jan” and Ella (Vander Molen) Veenstra. Ray attended the Peoria Christian School from the first to two-thirds of the seventh grade and finished seventh and eighth grades at Iola Country School near Harvey. Ray’s family lived west of Peoria and in 1947 moved south of Pella near Harvey. It was at this time the family transferred their church membership from Peoria Christian Reformed Church to Second Christian Reformed Church in Pella where he was baptized. Ray helped his dad farm and worked various jobs, Gosselink and Bloom Builders, Pella Canning Factory, and Vermeer Manufacturing during the winter.
Nov. 14, 1958, he and Virginia Mae Jansen were united in marriage at Second Christian Reformed Church. They moved to the Sandridge vicinity farm on Mar. 1, 1959, and lived there until Mar. 1, 1974, when they moved to the farm (Poverty Knob) they had purchased one mile west of Galesburg. In 1972, Ray joined with his brother Wilbur and they and their wives and a cousin Jake Vander Molen started Tri-County Auction Company, which became a successful sideline.
Ray and Virginia were blessed with three children: Jeffrey Blair, Kevin Ray, and Kimberly Elaine. Dec. 31, 1992, Ray was devastated with the unexpected death of his wife Virginia at the age of 53 years. Ray continued with his life and besides auctioning, enjoyed going to Pella Christian sporting events, sharing coffeetime with the guys at the Coffee Cup Café in Sully or Hy-Vee in Pella, and attending anything and everything his grandchildren were involved in. Ray never knew a stranger and could talk with and tease anyone. Ray grew up in Peoria Christian Reformed Church and later transferred to Second Christian Reformed Church, now Cornerstone Church in Pella, where he remained a faithful member. He continued living on his farm near Galesburg until April 2022, when he became a resident at The Cottages in Pella.
Ray is survived by three children: Jeff Veenstra of Denver, CO, Kevin (June) Veenstra of Grinnell, and Kim (Ryan) Hoekstra of Pella; five grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a sister JoAnn Boot of Pella; a brother-in-law Harold Jackson of Winterset; and a multitude of nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife Virginia; a granddaughter Ravyn Elaine Hoekstra on Apr. 7, 2007; his parents; his sister Greda and her husband Arthur Uitermarkt; his brother Wilbur (John) Veenstra and his wife Sarah; his brother-in-law J. Carroll Boot; his parents-in-law Ben and Kate Marinus Jansen; and the following brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: Garlene Jansen, Everett and Evelyn Jansen, Andrew and Shirley Jansen, and Harriet Jackson.
