Arlene Schuiteman

Arlene Schuiteman, age 99 of Sioux Center, Iowa died Thursday, September 21, 2023, at Sioux Center Health. 

  A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at Centerpoint Church in Sioux Center, Iowa with Rev. Stephen Breen officiating.  Interment will follow the service in Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center. 

 A visitation will be held from 5-7 PM on Monday, September 25, 2023, at Centerpoint Church. 

Arlene Schuiteman died at Sioux Center, Iowa hospital on September 21, 2023. She was born on January 3, 1924 at her family’s farmhouse north of Sioux Center. Arlene was the second of the six daughters of John G. and Johanna (Rozeboom) Schuiteman. Arlene’s sisters are Harriet (Henry) Boterhoek, Bernice (Howard) Sandbulte, Grada (Howard) Kiel, Joyce (Wilmer) Ver Meer, and Milly (Lee) TenBrink.

Arlene treasured her family, including her many nieces and nephews: Karen and Alan Anderson, Arlys and Allan Schneider, Brenda and Wayne Miller, Norma and Daniel Myatt, Ruth and Mike Brown, Steven and Deb TenBrink, Mary Jo and Scott Boerman, Barry and Linda Ver Meer, Kevin and Teresa Ver Meer, Lincoln and Gwen Ver Meer, Dan and Joanne Sandbulte, Eugene Sandbulte, Alvin Sandbulte, Calvin Sandbulte, Jim and Carla Sandbulte, and Jolene and Loren Hooyer.

Arlene graduated from Sioux Center High School and then, after receiving an education certification, taught elementary school for eight years. One Sunday afternoon at First Reformed Church, where she grew up, she experienced a miraculous call to the mission field. She enrolled at the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Sioux City and then in 1955 was sent by the Reformed Church in America Board of Foreign Missions to a riverside clinic at Nasir in the South Sudan. 

During times of furlough, Arlene studied midwifery at Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky and public health at University of Iowa.

In 1966, Arlene was invited to establish a nursing school at Mettu in the western mountains of Ethiopia. Eventually, a governmental revolution drove Arlene out of Ethiopia. 

At her life’s crossroads, Arlene sought always to discern God’s will through careful research, counsel with trusted mentors, and much prayer. Her perseverance led to greater responsibilities as she moved from nurse, to clinic leadership, to teacher of nurses, and, eventually, to national medical leadership in the nation of Zambia until her retirement in 1989. 

Arlene was a lifelong learner of new languages and cultures while pursuing the advancements of a rapidly changing medical field. Those who knew Arlene understood that her goal was never self-aggrandizement but always to honor God and celebrate his work in the world.

Arlene’s biographer, Jeff Barker, produced eight plays and books based on Arlene’s journals and letters, including Sioux Center Sudan, Iowa Ethiopia, Zambia Home, and Whispers from the Lord.

Arlene received an Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern College in 2020.

Arlene was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Harriet and Bernice, and her brothers-in-law Henry Boterhoek, Howard Kiel, and Howard Sandbulte.

In Lieu of Flowers, the family wishes any memorials be directed to the Northwestern College Nursing Program in Orange City, IA.