John Voortman

JOHN VOORTMAN, 85, of Sioux Center, IA, formerly of Alvord, IA, died Monday, December 9, 2008 at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City.

A memorial service will be held Friday at 2PM at the First Reformed Church of Sioux Center with Rev. Roger Voskuil officiating. Interment will be held prior to the memorial service in Memory Gardens Cemetery of Sioux Center.

A prayer service will be held Friday at 1:15pm at First Reformed Church of Sioux Center.

Visitation will be held Thursday from 4pm to 8pm, with the family present from 6pm to 8pm at the Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center.

The Voortman Family prefers memorials to the Sioux Center Ambulance Squad.



JOHN VOORTMAN, age 85, of Sioux Center, Iowa, formerly of Alvord, Iowa, went home to be with his Lord on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. He was born the son of Evert and Hiligye (Wickers) Voortman on July 1, 1923, on a farm near Carmel, Iowa. He attended country school two miles north of Carmel.

John served as a cook in the U.S. Army from 1946-1947. On December 12, 1950, he married Johanna Riphagen, at the Carmel Reformed Church. For one year, they made their home near Clara City, Minnesota. For the next 37 years they farmed between Alvord and Rock Rapids, Iowa. They attended church in Doon, Iowa, where he was a catechism teacher, an elder and a deacon for many years. In the fall of 1988, they retired in Sioux Center, Iowa where he went to work for the Furniture Mart for a number of years.

John is survived by his wife, Johanna of Sioux Center and four children: Everett and Donita of Austin, Texas; Michael and special friend, Dorothy Burns of Sgt. Bluffs, Iowa; Judy and Craig Malone and Marlene and Steve Hill of Castle Rock, Colorado; his four grand-daughters: Melanie Baker, Leslie Voortman, Tondee Lutterman and her husband, Shawn and Ashley Voortman and two great-grandchildren: Hailey and Brenden Baker. John is also survived by five sisters-in-law: Gert, Mrs. Edward Voortman of Ontario, CA; Margaret, Mrs. Manus Voortman of Sioux Center; Gert, Mrs. Tony Voortman of Escalon, CA, Dorothy, Mrs. Donald Voortman of Sioux Center and Nellie, Mrs. Rich Voortman of Visalia, CA and many nieces and nephews.

John was preceded in death by his parents and seven brothers: Manus; Merenus and his wife, Cornelia; Fred; Rich; Edward; Tony and Donald Voortman; and four sisters: Irene De Boom and her husband, Jake; Mary Kroon and her husband, Gerrit; Frederica Van Ginkel and her husband, Edward and Gert Van Beek and her husband, Pete.