Obituary of Lorraine Vanderhei

Lorraine Vanderhei, age 91, of Wisconsin Rapids, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at her residence.

Services will be at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at Faith Reformed Church in Wisconsin Rapids. Rev. Vance Elzinga will officiate. Burial will be at Restlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:00 A.M. until the time of services on Thursday at the church. Herman-Taylor Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Lorraine was born August 22, 1927 in Sherry, WI to Cornelius and Antoinette (Balkenede) Hoogesteger. She married Donald Vanderhei on May 19, 1951 in Wisconsin Rapids. They were blessed with 64 years of marriage.  Donald preceded her in death on October 3, 2015.

Lorraine was a very loving and devoted person who was not afraid to work hard. Her father passed away when she was seven, her mother and four siblings worked together doing whatever they could to keep the farm going for a year and a half, before moving to a home in Vesper.

In her younger years, Lorraine and her husband would take the kids on many camping trips, a couple trips out west, and annual vacations with extended family to Hayward, WI. They also enjoyed square dancing and polka dancing with each other. Lorraine learned how to sew at the age of seven on a treadle sewing machine growing up on the farm. After years of mastering her skills, she opened her own business, Lorraine’s Draperies, where she made custom draperies for over forty years.

She was a very kind and generous person who always saw the good in people. She liked to cook and take food to the “old people”, although she never thought of herself as being old. If she saw there was a need or something that she could do, she would do it. Lorraine was an avid reader and especially cherished spending time with her children and grandchildren. She was a loving and devoted wife who, with the assistance of her son Richard, took care of her husband Donald for over 19 years while he battled Parkinson’s Disease.

Lorraine had a very strong Christian faith and enjoyed sharing it with others. She was an active member of Faith Reformed Church where she taught Sunday school, vacation bible school and participated in many of the church’s other bible studies and activities. She would regularly pick people up on Sunday mornings to make sure they got to church.

Lorraine is survived by three children: Jane Hall of Kansas City, MO and Richard Vanderhei and Ronald (Laura) Vanderhei of Wisconsin Rapids; six grandchildren: Scott (Deanna) Vanderhei of Janesville, Justin Vanderhei of Ketchikan, AK, Taylor Hall and Benjamin Hall of Kansas City, MO, and Danny Vanderhei and Jaimie Vanderhei of Wisconsin Rapids; four great-grandchildren: Courtnie, Ashley, Carley, and Eli Vanderhei; brother, James (Lavonne) Hoogester; sister, Frances Stake; brother-in-law: Harlan (Sam) Henke; and sisters-in-law: Bonnie Vanderhei and Joy Hoogesteger.  She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers: Cornelius and Donald Hoogesteger; sister-in-law, Elaine Henke, and brothers-in-law, Marvin Vanderhei and Bill Stake.

We love you—See you at the gate!