Early Saturday morning, June 18, 2022, Ronda Faye (Van Maanen) Van Soelen, of Sully, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, went to her heavenly home at the age of 55 years, 6 months, and 20 days. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 24, at Sully Christian Reformed Church. Family committal service will follow at Sully Cemetery. Visitation will begin Thursday after 3 p.m. with the family present from 4-7 p.m. at Sully Christian Reformed Church. Memorials may be given to Pella Christian High School.
Ronda Faye Van Soelen was born on Nov. 29, 1966, in Pella, the second child of LeRoy and Ruth Eloise (Blom) Van Maanen. She attended Lynnville-Sully for both grade school and high school and graduated with the Class of 1985.
After high school, she went on to DMACC to earn an associate’s degree in fashion merchandising, graduating in 1987. During Ronda’s senior year of high school, she met the love of her life, Jeffrey Lee Van Soelen, while cruising around the square in Pella. They were united in marriage on June 5, 1987, at Sully First Reformed Church and to this union four children were born: Tyler Jay, Derek Lee, Erica Brooke, and Emily Nicole.
Jeff and Ronda lived in Sully and Galesburg before purchasing an acreage between Sully and Killduff. Shortly after getting married, Ronda began working at Heritage Lace where she remained a loyal employee for 35 years. When Ronda was not working or busy with her children, she enjoyed gardening, reading, and sewing. Her family knows her as a wonderful cook, which was a blessing since Ronda’s favorite thing was making and having Sunday dinner with all her children around the table.
Those who will cherish her memory are her four children of Sully; her father and mother LeRoy and Ruth Van Maanen of Lynnville; her two brothers and sisters-in law: Arlyn (Julie) Van Maanen of Lynnville and Kent (Jessica) Van Maanen of Ankeny; her brother in law and his wife David (Rhonda) Van Soelen of Pella; her two sisters-in-law and their husbands Barbara (Cal) Ahrenholz of Prinsburg, MN, and Sandra (Michael) Vander Hart of Peoria; as well as many nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and a host of other relatives and friends.
Ronda was preceded in death by her husband Jeffrey Lee Van Soelen on June 27, 2008; her father-in-law Cornelius Ralph Van Soelen on Sept. 23, 2020; her mother-in-law Leona M. Van Soelen on Nov. 12, 1996; her maternal grandparents Lambertus and Nellie Blom; and her paternal grandparents Teunis and Rika Van Maanen.
Ronda was a member of Sully First Reformed Church where she was baptized and made profession of faith until she was married. Since then, she has been a faithful member of Sully Christian Reformed Church where she baptized each of her children and served in Sunday school. She also served on the Sully Christian School Board.
Ronda had a deep love for her family, great gratitude for all the ways this community has supported her, and a quiet, but strong faith. She will be remembered for her devotion to her family, her resilience, her gentle nature, and her kind heart.
