Nella Bleyenberg

ROCK VALLEY, IOWA ~ Nella Bleyenberg, 80 of Rock Valley, passed away Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at Whispering Heights in Rock Valley.

    Funeral Service will be 10:00 a.m. Thursday, June 13^th at Porter Funeral Home with Rev. Mike Molenaar officiating. The service can be livestreamed at https://www.porterfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/nella-bleyenberg. Burial will follow at Valley View Cemetery. Public viewing with no family present will be from 1:00 p.m.  to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Visitation with the family will be from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. prior to the funeral. The funeral service will be livestreamed on her obituary page. Memorials will be given to Whispering Heights Nursing Home.

    Nella Bleyenberg was born March 26, 1944, near George, Iowa, the daughter of Leonard and Katherine (De Kam) Groeneweg. She grew up in Rock Valley, Iowa and graduated from Rock Valley High School in 1961. She married Dick Bleyenberg June 26, 1963, at the Netherlands Reformed Church in Rock Valley, Iowa. They made their first home in Sioux Center, Iowa until Dick was drafted into the United States Army. Nella and their daughter Michelle joined him in Germany. Following his discharge, they lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota while Dick attended college.  After college, they made their home in Rock Valley, where they raised their family of 3 daughters. Nella moved to Whispering Heights in 2008.

    Dick and Nella are members of the Faith Reformed Church in Rock Valley. Nella was a homemaker and loved to tend to her girls. She was a very talented seamstress. She sewed cheerleading uniforms for the Rock Valley Community School and countless bridesmaids’ dresses. She was an avid journal writer accounting details of dates with Dick, restaurants they visited to her years raising her girls. She would jot down notes about what she made for meals, Holiday festivities, gift exchanges and daily activities all while sipping on cold coffee with milk throughout the day.  Her girls now joke she paved the way of the coffee trends of today. She often played the piano and sang her favorite hymns while visiting family. She loved to cook, trying out new recipes or creating her own. She was known for her Gladiolas and would frequently have fresh cut bouquets on the kitchen table. She enjoyed traveling, with many trips to Hawaii, and visiting family and friends throughout the US.

     Nella is survived by her husband, Dick; 3 daughters, Michelle Swensen (Brett) of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Charlotte  Kooima and Randy Kooima of Sioux Center, Iowa, and Dr. Julie   Bleyenberg (Matt Klein) of Dover, New Hampshire; 5 grandchildren, Victoria Kronlokken (Matt), Andrew Swensen, Calista Swensen, Alexis Kooima, and Taryn Kooima; brother, John Groeneweg (Barb) of Rock Valley; sister, Lydia Vander Stouwe (Ken) of Perkins, Iowa; and sister-in-law, Marcia Groeneweg of Sioux Falls.

   Nella was preceded in death by her parents, Leonard and Katherine; and brother, Bert Groeneweg.