Johanna Riepma

Johanna Riepma, 91 of Hull died Tuesday, September 5, 2006 at the Pleasant Acres Nursing Home of Hull.

Memorial service will be held Saturday September 9, 2006 at 11am at Bethel Christian Reformed Church with Rev. Al Mulder officiating. Interment will be held prior at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery of Ireton.

A prayer service will be held Saturday, September 9, 2006 at 9:15am at Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center.

Visitation will be held Friday, September 8, 2006 from 2-8:30pm with the family present from 7-8:30pm at Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center.

The Riepma family prefers memorials be directed to Christian Education.

Johanna Riepma was born November 9, 1914 near Hawarden, Iowa to William and Nellie (Wiersma) Sinkey. Jo graduated from Ireton High School and went on to receive her teaching instruction at Westmar College and Northwestern College. She began her teaching career in rural schools in the early 1930s.

On May 24, 1936 she was united in marriage to Ted Riepma at the Ireton Christian Reformed Church. Jo and Ted farmed in the Maurice/Ireton area following their marriage, and were blessed with three daughters. They were members of the Ireton Christian Reformed Church. Jo was a teacher at heart and loved children, giving special attention to challenging students. She later taught at the Sioux Center Christian School for 12 years and served as a teacher and principal at both the Hawarden Christian School and Doon Christian School.

Family and family activities were extremely important to Jo. She was known for her hospitality and willingness to host family gatherings over the years. One could always expect warm cinnamon rolls on the table for meals and her fresh pies for dessert.

Jo and Ted settled in Sioux Center in the late 1960s and became members of Bethel Christian Reformed Church. Jo was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years on July 26, 2002. She was a resident of Pleasant Acres Care Center in Hull at the time of her death.

Surviving are her three daughters and sons-in-law: Darlene and Al Mulder of Grand Rapids, MI; Bev and Bob Attema of Tyndall, SD and Marge and Earl Cuperus of Hull; her 12 grandchildren: Bonny (Jahan) Mulder-Behnia of Bellflower, CA, Diane (Joe) Garcia of Gallup, NM, Carla (Gary) Huber of Gallup, NM, Eva Nickles of Grand Rapids, MI, Doug (Jen) Attema of Pella, IA, Jeanne (Greg) Svanda of Yankton, SD, Brian (Karla) Attema of Pierce, NE, Susan (Bill) Rosenau of Blue Earth, MN, Steve Attema of Mankato, MN, Lynn (Kelli) Cuperus of Hull, Kim (Bernie) Wynia of Sioux Center, Christopher Cuperus of Hull; 14 great granddaughters, 17 great grandsons and 3 great-great grandsons along with her sister-in-law, Irene Noteboom of Norwalk, CA and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her husband, Jo was preceded in death by her parents and six brothers and sisters