Funeral services for Virgil P. Kooistra, 93, of Pella and formerly of Sully, were held July 5, 2014, at Sully Community Church. Interment was at Sully Cemetery. He died July 1.
Virgil Paul Kooistra, the son of Weitz W. and Catherine (Brand) Kooistra, was born Oct. 15, 1920, on the family farm north of Lynnville. He attended the Bethel Country School and graduated from the eighth grade at the age of 11. Virgil then went to work on farms to support himself.
On Dec. 26, 1941, Virgil was united in marriage with Leola M. Rozendaal at the Rozendaal family home in Sully. They were blessed with four children. Immediately after their marriage, they moved to Wichita, KS, where Virgil worked in the Cessna Aircraft Company. Five years later, they moved back to Sully, and for 20 years, he owned a cream and milk route. He then became a salesman for Farm Bureau, Life Investors, and the Lynnville Seed Company. After Leola’s death on Apr. 19, 1994, Virgil was united in marriage with Flora M. Swank on Apr. 27, 1997, at the Sully Community Church. Virgil had lived in the house that Leola’s father had built for 65 years. In 2012, Flora and Virgil moved to Vriendschap Village in Pella. During Virgil’s illness, Flora has continued to take care of him with great care and devotion.
Virgil was an active member of the Sully Community Church, where for many years he had taught high school Sunday school. He was also instrumental in Youth For Christ coming to the Lynnville and Sully area. He loved gardening, fishing, and music. All of his family loved to hear him sing with his ukulele.
Those left to celebrate Virgil’s life are his wife, Flora of Pella; children, Carolyn (Mike) Somogyi of Lenexa, KS, Virginia (Jim) Garbison of Rogers, AR, and Wes (Jan) Kooistra of Minneapolis, MN; 12 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Leola; daughter, Joan in 1996; grandson, Michael Robert in infancy; two brothers, Bernard and David Kooistra; and six sisters, Lenora Reynolds, Edna Vande Krol, Sylvia Renaud, Frances Van Wyk, Velma De Boef, and Frances Kooistra in infancy.
In lieu of flowers, Virgil’s family requests memorials to the Sully Community Church Mission Fund or the Pella Comfort House which may be mailed to the Wallace Family Funeral Home, 1115 E. 19th St. S. in Newton and please add, Attn: Kooistra Family on the envelope.
