Goedhart, JoEllen |
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On Sept. 3, 2011, we lost our loving mother, grandmother and friend after a long illness.
JoEllen Mae VanDeSteeg Goedhart was born March 26, 1936, in Sioux Falls, S.D., and adopted by John William and Helen Kooiman VanDeSteeg. They lived in Chandler, Minn., until moving to Bellflower, Calif., when she was still a young child. She enjoyed working at a polio hospital and various jobs until she married Sam Goedhart on March 16, 1956. Becoming a mother was her greatest joy, and JoEllen and Sam were very happy with the addition of four children to their family. After all of the kids were in school, JoEllen went back to work and worked at Bellwood General Hospital ER until they moved to Wendell to start a dairy in 1970.
In Wendell, Jo focused most of her energy on keeping up with her kids’ active lives in high school and enjoyed being around the social activities her kids were involved in, becoming a good friend and ‘second mom’ to many. Although Sam and Jo were divorced after 37 years of marriage, they remained good friends until his death in 2000. With the addition of grandchildren to her family, she found new joy in helping with their care.
Jo is survived by her children, John (Cindy) Goedhart, Nancy (George) Rietkerk and Sam Goedhart Jr., all of Wendell, and Janet (John) Kootstra of Jerome; 13 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and her sister, Donna Hamm of Spokane, Wash. Jo was preceded in death by her parents; her husband and friend, Sam; and one grandson, Buck Henry Rietkerk.
We take great comfort knowing you can now rest pain free, Mom; we will miss you.
A celebration of life potluck service will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at the New Life Community Church in Wendell.
Read more: http://magicvalley.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/joellen-goedhart/article_041bd757-38b5-5eac-85a1-e9eb9dd6fb15.html#ixzz1XT7leC7d