Phyllis Van Regenmorter

     Phyllis Van Regenmorter, age 89, of Sioux Center, Iowa died on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at Crown Pointe Estates Care Center in Sioux Center, Iowa. 

     A visitation will be held on Sunday, April 14, 2024, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM with some family present at Memorial Funeral Home in Sioux Center. 

     A funeral service will be held Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at 10:30 AM at Centerpoint Church in Sioux Center with Rev Steven Breen, officiating.  Burial will follow in the Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center.

 In remembrance of Phyllis’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to either Christ’s Hands in Sioux Center or Samaritan’s Purse, two of her favorite charities.

   Phyllis (Bolkema) Van Regenmorter was born in 1935, in Rock Valley, IA, the daughter of Sjoerd and Anna Bolkema.  Phyllis grew up in Rock Valley where she attended school and graduated from Western Christian High School in 1952.  She earned a teaching certificate from Calvin College and taught 2nd and 3rd grade for 2 years in Prinsburg, MN.  

    In 1954, she was united in marriage to Richard Van Regenmorter at the Christian Reformed Church in Rock Valley.  They made their home on the family farm in Sioux Center.  In 1959, Phyllis and her husband Richard opened and operated Van's Poultry Farm on the northwest edge of Sioux Center until Richard’s medical retirement in 1990.  Side by side, they worked together to furnish eggs to stores not only in Sioux Center, but throughout Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska.  For several years they also sold hatching eggs to hatcheries across the entire United States and in Canada.

    Phyllis was an active member at First Reformed Church in Sioux Center where she used her teaching skills as a beloved leader of Sunday school classes, the Bethel Bible Series, the Ruth Circle, and other groups.  Richard and Phyllis had a deep commitment to Christian Care Ministries and missions.  They not only participated in local mission projects such as Justice For All, and relief efforts in various communities but also took leading roles in overseas missions, including projects in the Dominican Republic.  Phyllis even went to the lengths of studying Spanish so she could help with the translations.

    She also had a passion for gardening and could make virtually any plant flourish.  On many occasions, someone would come to her with a plant that was virtually dead, and she would predictably revive it to its former glory. One of her great joys was being out working in her flower garden.

    Phyllis was blessed with an incredible memory and in her youth, since she was a great lover of literature, she memorized lengthy poems and even portions of ballads.  She could memorize music (including the lyrics to every verse) after only hearing a song a few times.  The same was true about her ability to memorize scripture passages.  This served her well when she lost most of her eyesight in later years.  She could sit down at the piano and play any hymn that she had heard in her lifetime and could quote virtually any scripture completely from memory.

      She cared deeply about her family and was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.  She imparted her deep faith and unending love to each member of her family and anyone who had the privilege to know her.

    She is survived by her four children, Merlyn (Heidi) Van Regenmorter of Carmichael, CA, Bob (Suzy) Van Regenmorter of Sioux Falls, SD, Donna (Ron) Grenko of Elizabethtown, PA, Sue Van Regenmorter of Omaha, NE, eleven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

     Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Richard, her son Evan, sisters Bernice, Lucretia, Angeline, Lorrene, Mathilda, and Clara, as well as brothers John, George, and Harold.

In remembrance of Phyllis’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to either Christ’s Hands in Sioux Center or Samaritan’s Purse, two of her favorite charities.