Raymond Terlouw, 93, of Pella and formerly of Sully, died Jan. 29, 2023, at Hospice of Pella Comfort House. Funeral service was at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, at Sully Community Church. Memorials have been designated for Gideons International.
Raymond G. Terlouw was born June 21, 1929, to Frank and Wilma (Rozenboom) Terlouw. He grew up on a farm north of Lynnville with his two sisters: Arlene and Freda. Ray attended Black Oak Country School, where he graduated from the eighth grade. He farmed with his father until he was 21.
In June 1950, Ray accepted Christ as his Savior at a Youth for Christ meeting at Lynnville Friends Church with Stuart Hamilen as speaker. He was involved at the Sully Community Church for many years and actively involved in Gideons International. Ray thoroughly loved and looked forward to Gideons breakfast and the fellowship with his friends. He would give Gideon Bibles for memorials and birthday celebrations.
Aug. 14, 1951, Ray was inducted in the U.S. Army with basic training in Camp Chaffee, AR. In 1952, he went overseas and served in Korea in medium artillery. He returned home in the spring of 1953, receiving an honorable discharge.
May 28, 1953, he was united in marriage to Norma Eysink. They moved to Ray’s grandfather’s farm near Killduff, where he raised cattle, hogs, corn, and soybeans. They lived there for 50 years before moving to Pella.
Ray received the “Volunteer of the Year” award for his work at the PRHC Long Term Care Facility. He also volunteered at Jefferson Place and The Cottages. With his servant heart, he loved volunteering, moving residents to meals and activities, and creating numerous friendships with residents and families. His first time punching a time clock was when he lived at Fair Haven East. He stayed active with locking doors at night and unloading groceries. When he wasn’t busy at long-term care, time was spent volunteering at Pella Community Thrift Store where he developed lasting relationships with the staff and customers. Ray said, “I always receive more than what I give.” In the evenings, he enjoyed watching “Wheel of Fortune,” listening to gospel music, and doing word searches while watching TV. The last few years, he could often be found having coffee with “the boys” at Hy-Vee, morning or afternoon, and sometimes both. Anyone who knew Ray, knew he was very social. He cheered up a lot of people. Ray enjoyed going to quarterly VA meetings with Vernon Terlouw in Newton, and they went to Washington, D.C., on the Honor Flight together.
Ray’s family would like to thank all of you who gave him rides since he could no longer drive after a light stroke he had last April.
The family will remember Ray as fun-loving, generous, always wanting to help anyone and everyone, and he didn’t know a stranger.
Ray is survived by his wife Rita (Beal) Terlouw, and his family: Duane Terlouw of Louisville, KY, Marvin (Valerie) Terlouw of Sully, Marlene (Kerry) Bryan of Searsboro, Sharon (John) Van Wyngarden of New Sharon, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and his sisters Arlene (Raymond) Vander Hart and Freda (James) Vander Hart.
Ray was preceded in death by his wife Norma, parents, parents-in-law John and Johanna Eysink, and Vernon Terlouw who was like a brother to him.
Best advice: If somebody would approach him and ask him how he was doing, he would respond, “I’d be a lot better if I knew who you were.”
