Laura Vemeer

Laura Vermeer, 63, passed away at Kavanagh House in Des Moines on Tuesday, May 3rd after a short battle with a second recurrence of metastatic breast cancer. There will be a celebration of Lauras life, 11am, Saturday, May 7, 2005 at First Reformed Church in Sioux Center, IA. A memorial gathering will be held from 7-9pm, Friday, May 6 at Memorial Funeral Home in Sioux Center. Also there will be a memorial gathering 7-9pm, Monday, May 9 at Dunns Funeral Home in Des Moines.


Laura was born July 10, 1941 in Orange City to John and Angeline (Mouw) De Blauw. She was the youngest of six sisters and one brother. After graduating from Northwestern College, she married James A. Vermeer, later divorced. She worked as an elementary school teacher at Tipton and Maurice-Orange City before taking a ten-year break to raise her children, Jason and Aaron. In 1979, she began teaching again at Kinsey Elementary in Sioux Center until her retirement in 2002. She taught the 4th grade and was passionate about science, especially the study of the Loess Hills prairie and the rainforests. She once traveled to the rainforests of Costa Rica in order that she could better educate her students. Her grandchildren, Tatum, Miranda, and Henry were her joy, moving to Des Moines a year ago to be close to them. She enjoyed bicycle riding and travel, combining the two on a bike tour of her ancestral homeland, the Netherlands, a few years ago. She was an accomplished singer in church and a talented actress in college and community theater.

Laura was preceded in death by her mother and father, her brother John Jr. (Helen Kranak), and her sister Trudy (Henry) Muyskens. Laura is survived by her son Jason, his wife Heather Farris, and their children, Tatum and Miranda; her son Aaron, his wife Jennifer (Hansen), and their child, Henry, all of Des Moines. She is also survived by sisters Elinor (Tom) Noteboom of Orange City, Betty (Bob) Boss of Batavia, Illinois, Audrey (Casey) Van Zanten of Orange City, and Mary (Don) Ver Hage of Randolph, Wisconsin. She will also be truly missed by close nieces and close friends.

She led an intricate and courageous life. She also made the best lemon meringue pie known in the recorded history of man, perhaps the best in the universe, but that would be speculative.

Memorials in her name may be directed to the National Susan G. Komen Foundation, P.O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265-0309.