Jeannette "Nettie" Brouwer

Rock Rapids, IA

     Jeannette "Nettie" Brouwer, age 83, of Rock Rapids, IA died on February 27, 2020 at Ava’s Hospice House in Sioux Falls, SD.

     Funeral service will be 11:00 AM, Tuesday March 3, 2020 at First Reformed Church in Rock Rapids, with Rev. Dan Haggar officiating. Burial will follow at Riverview Cemetery in Rock Rapids.

     Visitation will be from 9:30 AM until the hour of service at the church on Tuesday.

     Nettie was born August 30, 1936 in Rock Rapids, IA to Gerrit and Jentje “Jennie” (Christoffels) Vanden Heuvel. She was raised in Rock Rapids, IA and graduated from the Rock Rapids High School.

     On May 4, 1956, she was united in marriage to John Brouwer in Rock Rapids. Together they farmed on three different farms. Their first farm was west of Rock Rapids, the second farm was near George, and then they farmed south of Rock Rapids. Nettie was a great helpmate to John and contributed to their successful farming years! They built a home in Rock Rapids in 1995 where they lived together until John's passing in 2002.

     Nettie worked for a number of years at the Corner Rexall Drug store. Nettie was a member of the First Reformed Church in Rock Rapids and enjoyed worshiping with her church family. Nettie enjoyed gardening, canning, sewing and her specialty was cooking. Everyone always looked forward to having a meal in Nettie's kitchen! Nettie also loved to collect Precious Moments, porcelain dolls and Barbie dolls.

     She is survived by two sisters, Mary Ann Sipma of Hull, IA and Bernice Van Eldik of Sioux City, IA; two sisters-in-law, Elizabeth Vanden Heuvel of Rock Rapids, IA and Grace Vanden Heuvel of Sioux Falls, SD; and many nieces and nephews.

     Nettie was preceded in death by her parents; husband, John; two brothers, George Vanden Heuvel and Gerald “Gooch” Vanden Heuvel; three sisters and their husbands, Lucy and Harold Kix, Grace and Don Stubbe, Dorothy and Larry Bonnema, and two brothers-in-law, Keith Sipma and Bill Van Eldik.