Velma D. Vander Plaats

NOTICE: Sibley, IA 

Velma D. Vander Plaats, age 93 of Sibley, IA passed away at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City, IA on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

A Funeral Service will be held at 2 PM Monday, April 8, 2024 at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Sibley.

Visitation with the family present will be held from 4-6 PM Sunday evening, April 7, 2024 also at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Sibley.

Velma Deloris (Brockberg) Vander Plaats was born November 15, 1930 on the family farm near Hardwick, MN in Rock County. She was the oldest of six girls born to Carl and Edna (Bendt) Brockberg.  At age 3 the family moved to a farm in Pipestone County where she grew up and attended country school. She had very fond memories of those days, where all 6 girls learned to help with farm work. At age 17 she got a job in Pipestone as a waitress and it was there she met Adrian.  They were married 2 years later on October 8, 1950 in Trosky MN at Vel’s family church, St. Johns Lutheran. They lived in Pipestone 2 years before moving to Omaha, NE.  They bought their first home in Missouri Valley, IA after their first son was born. In 1964 they came to the Sibley/Ashton area and enjoyed raising their 5 children on an acreage.  They were members of Trinity Lutheran Church where Velma helped with Bible school, confirmation, and Logos. She was also a member of Priscilla Women’s Bible study. Velma and Adrian enjoyed 41 years together raising their family and being involved with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. After Adrian’s passing in April 1992, Velma moved to Ashton where she lived for 22 years.  While there she belonged to the American Legion Auxiliary and the 100 club.  She always loved to read and to write letters. After a stroke in 2016 she moved to an apartment in George to be closer to family.  God blessed her with humor and she could always make you laugh or smile. 

Velma passed away on Thursday, April 4th at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City, Iowa.  She was content and so thankful for her good life of 93 years.

Those left to cherish her memory are her five children: David Vander Plaats of Ashton, IA; Donald Vander Plaats and his wife Laurie of Hull, IA; Douglas Vander Plaats of George, IA; Carol and her husband, David Vos of Melbourne Beach, FL; Delbert Vander Plaats and his wife Gayle of Boyden, IA; a son of her heart Bruce Vander Plaats and his wife Diane of Wellington, TX; 12 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren; five sisters, Norma Jean Carstensen of Jasper, MN; Marlys and her husband Wayne Beatty of Marshall, MN; Marilyn and her husband James Waite of Pipestone, MN; Lois Schmidt of Sioux Falls, SD; Lorraine and her husband Roland Hanson of Centerville, SD; and many nieces, nephews, and extended family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, two infant children Adrian Jr. and Adrianna, her daughter-in-law Jill Vander Plaats, an infant great-great-grandson Raiden, and two brothers-in-law Virgil Carstensen and Arlyn Schmidt.

Velma had been a member of a Lutheran Church since her confirmation in 1945.  She loved to hear the stories from the missionaries that the churches supported.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Sibley Trinity Lutheran Church Mission Fund, “Reaching the Unreached”.

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