Carolyn "Carrie" Van Voorst

ROCK VALLEY, IOWA~ Carolyn “Carrie” Van Voorst, 83, of rural Rock Valley, passed away on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at Fellowship Village in Inwood, Iowa.

   Funeral Service will be 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Carmel Reformed Church in Carmel with Rev. Roger Voskuil officiating. The service will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/carmelreformedchurch/live_videos/?ref=page_internal. Following a time of luncheon and fellowship, the burial will be at Valley View Cemetery at Rock Valley. Visitation with the family present will be from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday at Porter Funeral Home in Rock Valley.  
 Carolyn “Carrie” Van Voorst was born January 6, 1941, two miles west and two and a half miles south of Rock Valley, Iowa, to John and Hattie (De Boer) Meerbeek. She was the third child of their four children. At the age of four, Carolyn and her family moved two miles south and two miles east of Rock Valley, “the home place”, where she spent her childhood days. Carolyn attended a small country school and graduated from the eighth grade. In 1955, at the age of fourteen, Carolyn was helping out at the farm, babysitting, and cleaning house. When Carolyn was fifteen, her family moved to California for the winter where she waitressed at “Pappy’s Café. Then in 1957, Carolyn and her family returned to their farm near Rock Valley. When she was sixteen years old, she started working at a factory, Otis Radio, in Hawarden, Iowa until 1960. It was during this time her good friend, Evonne, set up a blind date that would change her life! Carolyn met the love of her life, Jake H. Van Voorst. They dated a couple of years and were married at the Hull First Reformed Church on September 14, 1959. 
   The young couple moved in and rented an old house in Carmel, Iowa and attended the Carmel Reformed Church. Besides working at Otis Radio, Carolyn did some waitressing at a Rock Valley café for a couple of years. By the early 1960’s, Carolyn was a stay-at-home mom, as well as a phone receptionist for the couple’s newly owned grinding business for about ten years. Carolyn worked at other factories in the area in the 1970’s. 
   In the mid-sixties Jake and Carrie built a new house about a mile and a half east of Carmel. This was where the 3 oldest children grew up with many childhood memories. Jake and Carrie and their children continued to attend the Carmel Reformed Church, where all six children were baptized. In 1979, the couple built another new house and relocated near Fairview, South Dakota, on the Iowa side of the Big Sioux River. The 3 younger children made childhood memories here. They continued to be members of the Carmel Reformed Church. After relocating, Carolyn took on another factory job working at Kooima Machine Shop (Kooima Company) in Rock Valley for 18 years. Carolyn finally retired in 1999. Carolyn continued to live near Fairview, even after her husband of nearly 53 years passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 2012. At the age of 82, Carolyn was admitted to the nursing home at Fellowship Village in Inwood, Iowa in September of 2023.
   Carolyn loved the country and her many pets, especially her horse, Spot. She rode “Spot” every chance she got when she was a young girl and continued to ride until the mobility of her body limited her. The love of horses was passed onto her children. Carrie also enjoyed her flower gardens and embroidering. Carrie enjoyed her visits with special friends, family, and neighbors. She just always liked “Home”.
   Carolyn is survived by her children: Kathy (DeWayne) Dykstra of Orange City, Iowa, Patsy (Mark) Mulder of Orange City, Iowa, Julie (Glenn) Vande Vegte of Inwood, Iowa, Jerry (Karen) Van Voorst of Hudson, South Dakota, Holly Zomermaand of Canton, South Dakota, and Kelly (Dale) Robertson of Fairview, South Dakota; 21 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and nephews and nieces.
   Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, John and Hattie (De Boer) Meerbeek; her husband, Jacob H. Van Voorst; grandchild, Mitchell Mulder; all her siblings, Agnes Koerselman Hinken, Allen Meerbeek, and John Meerbeek; as well as several brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law.