Vicki Franken

  A Celebration of Life service for Vicki Franken will take place at 11 AM, Monday, February 21, 2022, at the New Life Reformed Church of Sioux Center with Pastor Bobby Van Otterloo officiating.  Interment will precede the service in the Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center, Iowa.   To View the service click here: Vicki Franken Service

Visitation with the family present will be from 3-5 PM Sunday, February 20, 2022, at the New Life Reformed Church in Sioux Center.

Memorials will be given to All Kids Can or the New Life Sending Team to support church members who choose to share the Good News full-time through mission work. Vic was passionate about and served on both of these teams.

Vicki Franken’s New Life began on February 16, 2022, ending an earthly life dedicated to serving the Lord through serving others.  Vic’s life was one of service and dedication to her husband, family, church, friends, and students.  She was known for her acts of service, dedication to her family, and words of encouragement and love.  God equipped her uniquely to be a grandmother who provided unconditional love and support to her grandchildren.  If there was a grandparents’ award for attending the most ballgames and performances, Vic would have won it hands down!             

Vicki was born on June 7, 1949, in Milaca, MN, the first child of Henry and Lorraine (Droogsma) Veurink. She grew up on the family dairy farm and attended Pease Christian grade school. In 1967, she graduated from Milaca Senior High School.  After graduation, she attended and graduated from Dordt College in Sioux Center, IA, where her passion for children and teaching began.  While at Dordt, she met the love of her life, Will Franken.  Vic and Will were married on June 18, 1971, in the Christian Reformed Church in Pease, MN.  After their marriage, Sioux Center became Vic’s permanent home. While she said she would never live in Sioux Center, it became a community she loved and served the remainder of her life. 

In 1971, Vic also started fulfilling her life-long calling in education as an elementary teacher.  After starting her family, Vic took time off from full-time teaching and dedicated her time to raising her children.  Once her kids were all in school, Vic went back to education, first as a junior high teacher and then eventually earning her masters in school counseling. Vic’s love for people was evident in all she did, but her most prized relationships were those with her husband, kids, and grandkids. She felt called by God to invest herself in her grandkids, and she rarely missed one of their events. She passed her love for the Lord on to her kids and grandkids by being an earthly example of Christ’s love and sacrifice. Each member of her family knew how deeply she loved them.   

Those left to cherish Vic’s memory are husband, Will Franken; daughter Jill Harskamp and her husband Chad and granddaughters Chloe, Jori, and Emery; daughter Becca Bleeker and her husband Bryan, grandson Cade, and granddaughters Miah, Willow, Romee, and Amirah; and son Mike and wife Amanda and granddaughters Laney, Maryn, and Birkley. Vic’s lovingly cooked weekly Sunday night meals and dedicated support for her family will be painfully missed. 

While Vic was passionate about her relationship with her family, her passion for others didn’t stop there. First and foremost was her passion for her relationship with the Lord, which she cultivated through her participation in several women’s Bible studies including attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). She also desired to develop relationships with those God put into her path.  Vic loved people unconditionally, and everyone who met her felt loved by her. She spent many hours in her retirement caring for and serving others as a CASA (court appointed special advocate), serving on multiple mission focused groups at church, taking a mission trip to Liberia, sending many notes and cards of encouragement, and enjoying time spent with family and friends in Arizona. 

Vic will be dearly missed by her mother, Lorraine Veurink of Milaca, MN, and her siblings: brother Carl (Carol) Veurink of Milaca, MN, sister Leanne Adkins of Eagan, MN, brother Dave (Alison)Veurink of Crown Point, IN; brothers- and sisters-in-law Ken and Vic Franken of Sioux Center, IA; Gloria and Leon Te Grotenhuis of Sioux Center, IA; Diane and Denny Burns of Ireton, IA; and Gerry and Julie Franken of Sioux Center, IA, along with many nieces and nephews.

Vic was preceded in death by her dad Hank Veurink, father- and mother-in-law Gerrit and Liz Franken, a nephew, Caleb Te Grotenhuis, and brother-in-law Mark Witt.