NEWS OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM
Pvt. Herman Van Donkelaar left by train from LeMars early Thursday morning to return to Camp Hood following a 15-day furlough, which was spent with his family here.
Source: Sioux Center News, August 31, 1944
Sioux Cityan Freed: 2 Iowa Casualties
Casualty releases from the bureau of public relations of the war department include the following:
Army dead, European regions—PVT. Harold E. Bell, son of William L. Bell, West Bend, Iowa.
Army wounded, Pacific regions –Pfc. Herman Van Donkelaar, husband of Mrs. Christina Van Donkelaar, Maurice, Iowa.
Army liberated prisoner of war,
Japan—Pvt Clifford Gorsett, husband of Mrs. Gayle Gorsett, 29, Correctionville Road, Sioux City.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, October 24, 1945
His Obituary: 1918-2002
SIOUX CENTER--Herman Van Donkelaar, 84, Sioux Center, died Friday, Oct. 25, at Pleasant Acres Care Center in Hull.
Services were Monday, Oct. 28, in the chapel of First Reformed Church in Sioux Center, with the Rev. Arnold Punt officiating. Burial was at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center, under the direction of Oolman Funeral Home in Sioux Center.
Herman Van Donkelaar, son of Gerrit and Dora (Meyers) Van Donkelaar, was born July 18, 1918, in rural Hull. He was raised in Perkins and Sioux Center, where he attended school.
He married Christina De Koter on July 30, 1940, in Maurice. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. They made their home in Maurice where he was a carpenter for John Hoekstra. They moved in 1958 to Sioux Center, where he was employed by De Stigter Brothers Construction. He and his wife also operated Herm and Chris' Cafe in Maurice during the 1970s. Mrs. Van Donkelaar died March 14, 1990. He became a resident of Pleasant Acres Care Center in 1996.
He was a member of First Reformed Church in Sioux Center. He enjoyed collecting antique miniature horses.
Survivors include six children, Gerrit and Lylis Van Donkelaar of Maurice, Carol and Junior Van't Hul of Rock Valley, Nancy May of Spirit Lake, Debbie Van Donkelaar of Sioux Center, Bob and Del Rae Van Donkelaar of Remsen, and Marcia and Steve Morphew of South Boston, VA; a son-in-law, Gerard Zeutenhorst of Rock Valley; 21 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandson.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Christina Van Donkelaar; a daughter, Sharon Zeutenhorst, on Oct. 18, 1997; a grandson, Nathan May; and three sisters, Kate Vander Stelt, Antonia Mulder and Sena Altena.
Source: Northwest Iowa Review, November 2, 2002.
