Jay W. Veldhuizen

Jay W. Veldhuizen, 100, of Oskaloosa, died Thursday, January 5, 2012, at the Oskaloosa Care Center. He was born October 30, 1911, in a sod house at Prairie View, Kansas, the son of John and Hattie (Schemper) Veldhuizen. Jay graduated from the 8th grade at Prairie View School in 1925. That same year, the family left Kansas and moved to a farm near Tracy, Iowa. Jay worked on his father's farm until he was 21 years old and then worked on other farms as a farmhand. On December 16, 1937, Jay was united in marriage with Nellie Sterk at her parents' home east of Lacey, Iowa. Jay and Nellie lived near Cedar, Kirkville and Lacey, Iowa, before buying a farm five miles southeast of Oskaloosa, where they would live and farm for the next 27 years. Jay made public profession of his faith in God in 1938 at the First Christian Reformed Church in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He served as a deacon in his church and was a member of the church building committee that saw the completion of the new First Christian Reformed Church building in 1960. In 1978, Jay and Nellie retired from farming and moved into Oskaloosa. Nellie passed away July 14, 1994, at the age of 79. Jay moved to Maple Ridge Assisted Living in October 2004. In June 2009, he moved from there to the Oskaloosa Care Center. Jay loved spending time with friends and family, whether it was going fishing, going to coffee, playing cards, or telling stories about his younger years; the family move from Kansas, hopping freight trains to work the fields of northern Minnesota, and trips to the Iowa State Fair were always favorites.
Jay's family includes his son and his wife, Donald and Marsha Veldhuizen, of Oskaloosa, and his daughter, Linda Veldhuizen, of Memphis, TN; three grandchildren: Dale Veldhuizen, of Des Moines; Eric (& Sande) Veldhuizen, of Iowa City; and Sara (& David) Veldhuizen Stealy, of Riga, Latvia; two great-grandsons: Dakota and Dawson Veldhuizen, of Iowa City; two sisters: Gradda Tien, of Phillipsburg, Kansas, and Veda (& Bill) Bousema of, Sanborn, Iowa; and a brother, Dale Veldhuizen, of Oskaloosa; and a sister in law: Bernice Veldhuizen of Oskaloosa. He is also survived by his special friend, Ann Schultz, of Oskaloosa.
Besides his parents, Jay was preceded in death by his wife, Nellie; a sister and brother in law, Hendreen and Lambert Branderhorst; three brothers and two sisters in law, Albert (Hap) and Virginia Veldhuizen, Rich Veldhuizen and Bill and Nellie Veldhuizen; a brother in infancy, Leroy Veldhuizen; and his step-father: John K. Schemper; a brother in law: Garret Tien; and two sisters in law: Icel Veldhuizen and Marie Veldhuizen
Funeral services will be held Monday, January 9, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. in the First Christian Reformed Church in Oskaloosa with Reverend Dale Visser and Pastor Alvern Boetsma officiating. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 Monday morning in the basement of the church. Burial will be in the Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa. The Bates Funeral Chapel is in charge of the arrangements. Visitation will begin Sunday morning after 9:30 a.m. in the Bates Funeral Chapel and the family will be at the funeral home from 2-4 Sunday afternoon to greet friends and relatives. Memorials may be made to the Oskaloosa Christian School.