Elizabeth Van Beek

ELIZABETH VAN BEEK, 88, of Sioux Center, Iowa died Thursday, 6/30, at the Sioux Center Community Nursing Facility.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30am on Wednesday, 7/6, in the chapel of First Reformed Church of Sioux Center with Rev. Arnold Punt officiating. Interment will follow in Memory Gardens Cemetery of Sioux Center.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, 7/5, from 2pm to 8pm, with the family present from 6:30pm to 8pm at the Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center.

The Van Beek Family prefers memorials to First Reformed Church Audio Visual Fund.

Elizabeth (DeBoer) Van Beek was born to Klaas & Agnes (Vander Werff) De Boer on June 27, 1917 near Inwood, Iowa. Elizabeths family farmed between Rock Valley and Inwood for most of her formative years. She attended country school through the eighth grade.


On January 6, 1939 Elizabeth was joined in marriage to Albertus Van Beek in Canton, South Dakota. The couple farmed near Lebanon until 1951 when they moved for a short time to a farm near Ireton. In 1954, the couple moved to Sioux Center where Albertus worked construction and the couple ran the Van Beek Greenhouse. In 1974 they retired from the greenhouse which became Kempers Flower House. Albertus died in 1999, and Elizabethlived in herhome until 2004 when she became a resident at the Sioux Center Community Nursing Facility.


Elizabeth was always fond of gardening and flowers. She also spent free-time embroidering and was fond of horses. Elizabeth was a member of the First Reformed Church of Sioux Center.


She is survived by her seven children and their spouses: Agnes and Chuck Miedema of Sioux Center, Albert and Vickie Van Beek of Rock Valley, Klaas and Trudy Van Beek of Sioux Center, Gert and Stan Gaalswyk of Sibley, Wilma and Gary Leusink of Sibley, Henny and Loren Kots of Rock Valley and Gerrit and Deb Van Beek of Rock Valley; 22 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Elizabeth is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Albertus; her parents; a grandson, Terry Van Beek; three great-grandchildren, Matthew Van Beek, Samuel Van Beekand Stephanie Van Beek; four brothers: Gilbert, John, Gerrit and Frank De Boer; a sister, Hattie Meerbeek and an infant sister, Elizabeth De Boer.