Mildred Keunen

NOTICE: Hills, MN             Mildred Keunen, age 86 of Hills, MN died Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at Tuff Memorial Home in Hills, MN.      Memorial service will be 1:00 PM Friday, March 18th at Steen Reformed Church in Steen, MN with Pastor Brian Dengler officiating.  Inurnment will follow at East Side Cemetery near Steen.            Family will greet guests prior to the service Friday at the church.           Mildred Jeanne Keunen passed away at the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills, Minnesota, on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at the age of 86. Born on July 21, 1929, at the family home in rural Maurice, IA Mildred was the youngest of four daughters.  Her parents, Ben and Johanna Keunen, had emigrated from Lochem, Netherlands in 1925, with their three older girls.  The Keunen family moved to a farm near Steen, Minnesota, in 1934.  Mildred attended school in Steen through the 8th grade and received her high school diploma through a correspondence course with the American School in Chicago, Illinois.  She then attended Rice Hospital’s nursing program for Licensed Practical Nursing in Willmar, MN, graduating in 1957.  Mildred went on to work as an LPN in Valley Springs, SD and Sheldon, IA.  In 1965, her father died suddenly, and she moved back to Steen to live with and help care for her mother.  She worked at the Rock Rapids, Iowa hospital for two years before continuing her nursing career at the Luverne Community Hospital, starting there on August 16, 1965.  She remained there until her retirement on August 16, 1995.  Mil was a lifelong member of the Reformed Church in America being baptized as an infant in Maurice, Iowa, and making profession of her Christian faith at the Reformed Church in Steen. She remained a faithful member there for the rest of her life.  She taught the 4-year old Sunday School class there for several years.  Mildred read and studied the Bible daily.  She enjoyed playing the piano and organ, singing the old hymns, reading, doing crosswords, crocheting, visiting, and going out for breakfast with family and friends. She volunteered at Children’s Care in Sioux Falls with her sister, Bertha Bosch, for ten years.  She played the piano for Dutch Psalm sings at Tuff, and ‘Music with Mil’ hymn sing was a Thursday event on the Tuff Home calendar for many years.  She also played for hymn sings at the Health Center in Rock Rapids.       Mildred is survived by her older sister, Jo Aykens, a resident at the Tuff Home.  The children of Mildred’s three sisters were her family and she has been a dependable presence in their lives for all of their lives.  The nieces and nephews celebrating her life and her memory are: Beth Sakurai, Stan (Gloria) Bonnema, Ginger (Jim) France, Mark (Eva) Bonnema, Mike (Jodie) Bonnema; Paul (Carole) Aykens, Joyce Aykens; Roger (Carole) Bosch, Linda (Les) Hengeveld, Darrell (Marina) Bosch, Lois Bosch, Keith (Rondy) Bosch, Ladine (Scott) Marquardt, Lexia Bosch; 28 great-nieces and nephews.       With celebration and joy, her family in heaven welcomes Mil into the Savior’s presence.  Those family members include, her parents, Ben and Johanna Keunen; her sisters, Mickie and Bertha, and their husbands, Nelson Bonnema and Bill Bosch; her brother-in-law, Richard Aykens; a stillborn niece, Wenda Bosch; nephew, Vergel Bosch; nephew-by-marriage, Akira Sakurai; niece-by-marriage, Kayce Bosch; great niece, Wendy Bosch; and nephew, Don Bonnema.