Minnie Den Boer

Rock Valley, IA: Minnie Den Boer, 97, of Rock Valley, Iowa, formerly of Worthington, Minnesota, died Friday, March 2, 2018 at Whispering Heights in Rock Valley. Memorial services will be held Friday, March 9 at 1:30 PM at Calvin Christian Reformed Church of Rock Valley with Rev. Gideon Wamala officiating. Burial will be held prior to the service at 9:30 AM at Worthington Cemetery in Worthington, Minnesota with Rev. Lee Christoffels officiating. Visitation, with the family present, will be held Thursday, March 8 from 6:00-7:30 PM at Porter Funeral Home of Rock Valley. Memorials may be given to Worthington Christian School.

Willemina "Minnie" Dykstra Den Boer, was born to Herman and Grace (TeBrake) Dykstra on November 11, 1920, at Brooten, Minnesota and died at the age of 97, on March 2, 2018, at Whispering Heights in Rock Valley, Iowa. On September 11, 1941, she married Stephen Mellema at Primghar, Iowa. They resided on a farm near Worthington, Minnesota until the time of his death on September 5, 1978. On November 14, 1980, she married William Kooiman and they lived in Worthington, Minnesota until the time of his death in November of 1996. On September 4, 2004, Minnie married John Den Boer and they lived in Worthington, Minnesota until they moved to Rock Valley, Iowa in 2012.

Minnie spent many hours doing "fancy work", constructing and sewing many beautiful quilts, along with many precious keepsakes that are treasured by family and friends. She also enjoyed sharing the bounty of her homemade bread and pies with anyone that was fortunate enough to stop by. All her life she was very active in her church. With her joy for music, she enjoyed singing in the church choir, and continued participating at chapel and hymn sings while residing at Whispering Heights.

Minnie treasured all the time that she was able to spend with her family, including her children and stepchildren. She loved to share stories from her past while having a cup of tea and a cookie. Another thing she and John enjoyed was fixing jigsaw puzzles with anyone that stopped in to visit.

She is survived by her husband, John, from Rock Valley, Iowa, 2 daughters, Gladys (Bill) Knodel, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, LaVonne (Pete) Pettengill, Rock Rapids, Iowa, and two sons, Buryl (Sandi) Mellema, Aurora, Colorado, Harold (Glenda) Mellema, Sioux Center, Iowa, and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by numerous Kooiman and Den Boer stepchildren and step grandchildren, as well as two brothers in law and two sisters in law.

She was preceded in death by two husbands, granddaughter, son in law, her parents and her three siblings.