Dean Huisman Obituary, Death – On June 4, 2023, Dean Huisman, who was 71 years old and from Wellsburg, Iowa, passed away. On Friday, June 9, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., memorial services will be held at Orchard Hill Church in Grundy Center, Iowa, and will be followed by a luncheon at the same location. Prior to the memorial service, which will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the First Christian Reformed Church Cemetery in Wellsburg, there will be a committal service with military honors held at 9:00 a.m. in the cemetery. On Thursday, June 8, 2023, visitation will be place from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Orchard Hill Church in Grundy Center.
The arrangements are going to be handled by Anderson Funeral Homes, which are located in Conrad, Iowa. You are welcome to share your sympathies with the Anderson family at www.andersonfhs.com. On November 29, 1951, Dean was born in his Aunt Helena’s house in Aplington. His parents, Donald and Grace Huisman, were living there at the time. After receiving his diploma from Wellsburg High School in 1970, he went on to complete his studies at NIACC in Mason City during the academic year 1970–1971. He found a lot of happiness in simply driving around in his 1968 Roadrunner. Dean served in the United States Army from 1971 through 1973.
During that time, he was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, where he participated in the Honor Guard at the Belgian National Cemetery as well as at other national cemeteries. He served in the American Legion and rose to the rank of Specialist while he was there. He was a member of the Wellsburg post. At the 1st Christian Reformed Church in Wellsburg on July 3, 1974, he wed Nancy Eekhoff, and the ceremony was witnessed by family and friends. Between the years 1974 and 1976, they made their home in Annville, Kentucky, where they worked as dorm parents at Annville Institute and Dean worked as a printer for the school’s various publications.
They made their home in Pella, Iowa, from 1976 until 1978, during which time Dean worked as a printer for the Pella Chronicle and the couple welcomed their first child, a son named Justin Dean. They eventually settled in a rural area outside of Wellsburg, Iowa, where they farmed between the years 1978 and 2006. In 1979, Nathan Paul became a part of the family, and Quentin Kyle was born the following year in 1984. In addition, Dean worked as a rural mail carrier full-time for Wellsburg and, later, for a portion of Holland, from the years 1993 to 2019.
Participating in card games with family and friends, particularly a round of Pepper played with his boys during their annual Christmas get-together, was a favorite pastime. He bought a fishing boat in 2021 because fishing was one of his favorite things to do during the summertime. Traveling highlights included excursions to the state of Washington, Yellowstone National Park, the Black Hills, their “canyon tour” in 2007, their trip to Washington, D.C., and their vacation to Europe, during which they visited relatives in the Netherlands, had a cruise down the Rhine River, and ultimately boarded their aircraft from Paris.