Van Kooten, Clarine Ruth Fopma - 1931-2022

DIELEMAN, FOPMA, HOVDA, JANSEN, LANDERS, TROMP, VAN HAAFTEN, VAN KOOTEN, VAN WYK, ZYLSTRA

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 4/27/2024 at 11:49:39

Clarine R. (Fopma) Van Kooten, 91, formerly of Sully, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, at her residence in The Cottages in Pella. Van Haaften
Funeral services were held Monday, Aug. 8, at 10:30 a.m. at Sully Christian Reformed Church. Interment was in Sully Cemetery. Memorial contributions are preferred for Sully Christian School.
Clarine Ruth Fopma was born June 26, 1931, at her parents’ home north of Sully. She was the third of four children born to Rutford and Hattie (Jansen) Fopma. Clarine grew up on their farm north of Sully and remembered walking down the road to visit neighbors on Sunday evenings. Her formal education began at a country school and then Sully Christian School.
Clarine was baptized and made profession of her faith at the Sully Christian Reformed Church where she met Donald Edwin Van Kooten. Their courtship evolved by riding around in the car of his parents Roy and Nellie (Dieleman) Van Kooten. Jan. 26, 1950, they were united in marriage at the church and to this union seven children were born: Dean Allen, Linda Diane, Randall Jay, Kevin Eugene, Brian Lee, Scott Edwin, and Curtis Leon. They farmed in the Lynnville, Searsboro, and Sully areas before settling south of Lynnville where they raised their family on a dairy farm. Clarine was busy cooking and baking for the family and also enjoyed gardening, raising flowers, doing embroidery, and crocheting.
In 1977, they experienced a drought and lost their crops. Clarine went to work as a nurse’s aide for a few years and then was employed at Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company in Grinnell after Don’s health began to decline. She helped serve lunches at Sully Christian School, and in 1991, they built a home and moved into Sully. Don passed away there on Dec. 23, 2004, after 54 years of married life together. They loved to travel, going on bus trips to see the sights and sounds of the country, and going to Rathbun Lake on Saturday evenings and enjoying the country music. Clarine enjoyed making 1,000-piece puzzles, reading, going to Coffee Break at the church, raising flowers, and doing lawn work at home. She had belonged to LGT Neighborhood Club and mother’s club at Sully Christian School. Clarine continued living in Sully until moving to The Cottages in Pella in August 2021. She passed away there unexpectedly on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
She is survived by her seven children and their spouses: Dean (Betty) Van Kooten of Kellogg, Linda Landers of New Sharon, Randall (Cindy) Van Kooten of Lynnville, Kevin (Brenda) Van Kooten of Lynnville, Brian (Glenda) Van Kooten of Pella, Scott (Deb) Van Kooten of Sully, and Curtis (Chris) Van Kooten of Pella; 22 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.
Of Clarine’s original family, she leaves her sister Lois Van Wyk of Pella, her sister-in-law Grace Van Kooten of Pella, a brother-in-law Gary (Muriel Van Kooten) Tromp of Grand Rapids, MI, many nieces and nephews, and a special cousin Denny Dieleman.
She was preceded in death by her husband Don Van Kooten; a son-in-law Virgil Landers in 2021; a granddaughter Bethanie Lea Van Kooten in 1997; a grandson-in-law Barry Van Haaften in 2021; two great-grandchildren Zachary Dean Van Kooten in 1999 and Maggie Sue Hovda-Van Kooten in 2004; her parents; her sister Bertha and her husband William Zylstra; her brother Richard Fopma and his wife Marjorie; her brothers-in-law Clarence Van Kooten and Norman Van Wyk; her parents-in-law Roy and Nellie Van Kooten, and the following sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Harris Van Kooten, Celia (Van Kooten) and Marvin Zylstra, and Muriel (Van Kooten) Tromp.
She was a longtime, faithful member of Sully Christian Reformed Church where she participated in the JOY Society and later Ruth Circle, and after moving to The Cottages she enjoyed worshipping at Otley Reformed Church.
Source: Hometown Press (Sully, IA); August 10, 2022