Gladys Apol

Gladys Apol, 71, of Sioux Center, Iowa died Sunday, February 26, 2012 at the Sioux Center Community Hospital of Sioux Center. A visitation will be held Tuesday at Covenant Christian Reformed Church of Sioux Center from 2-9PM, with the family present from 4-7PM. A prayer service for family and friends will be held Wednesday at 11AM at the Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center. Interment will be held following the prayer service in Memory Gardens Cemetery of Sioux Center. A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 12:00PM at the Covenant Christian Reformed Church of Sioux Center with Rev. Herm Van Niejenhuis officiating. In lieu of flowers the Apol family prefers memorials to the Dordt College Gladys Apol Disability Scholarship. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 After 71 years, Gladys's strength is renewed. She was born to Bert and Lena (Hofkamp) Doppenberg in Chandler, Minnesota, and grew up in Leota, where she attended the Leota Christian School and Edgerton Public School. In 1961, she married Dallas Apol and they lived in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Minneapolis, and Sioux Center, where she spent the remainder of her life. Throughout her lifetime, Gladys held a number of positions. Early on, she worked as a secretary and a bank employee. After her children were born, she had a career in medicine first in an emergency room, then in an ENT clinic. She formalized her nurse's training as an LPN, and worked at Pleasant Acres Nursing Home in Hull, Iowa, then at the Sioux Center Community Hospital in obstetrics and geriatrics. After years of nursing, she became the certified public housing manager of the New Homestead of Sioux Center. When, in 1979, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she took a job in the Student Services office at Dordt College, where she was much loved by staff and students. Gladys volunteered widely: she was a certified Emergency Medical Technician, Hospice bereavement counselor, and Coffee Break Bible Study leader. For years, she read the Bible to Rev. and Mrs. Bouma, taught English to Hispanics, and spent many hours each week engaging in service in the community and at Covenant CRC. She loved reading novels, playing cards, camping, baking, knitting and crocheting, sharing pie, and playing hymns on the piano. She will be remembered for her smile, her ability to listen, her faithful daily walk with God, the pleasure she took in gathering with family and friends, her pride in and devotion to her children and grandchildren, and the lifetime of laughter she shared with her husband, who was her best friend and the love of her life. Gladys spent her final four years at Royale Meadows Health Center where she was cared for and where she also cared for others. She is survived by Dallas; by her children: Laura Apol and Mike (Rachelle) Apol, and her grandchildren: Jesse Obbink, Hanna Obbink, Brandon Apol, and Elayne Apol; by three sisters: Alice Mae (Calvin) Hoff, Kathleen (Jim) Ludens, Donna (Daryl) Hanenburg; and by one brother: Gary (Donna) Doppenberg. She was preceded in death by her parents. What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belongbody and soul, in life and in deathto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.