Reverend Vanderwerf

The Reverend Calvin W. Vanderwerf entered the Church Triumphant on December 10, 2008 at a Temple hospital.

Funeral Services will be held at the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Grundy Center , IA at 11 am on December 18, 2008.  Vistitation will be from 9:00 A.M. until 11:00 A.M. service time at the church.

Interment will be at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Grundy Center , IA.

He was born October 4, 1927 on a farm in Parkersberg , IA. Calvin graduated from Aplington High School in Iowa in 1944. He entered the University of Dubuque as a college freshman at the age of 27. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1958, a Master of Divinity degree from the Dubuque Theological Seminary in 1960, and a Master of Sacred Theology degree there in 1974 .

It was at the University of Dubuque that he met Sally Freedman, a registered nurse who became his wife in 1960. He was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and proudly supported that denomination for more than fifty years .

He served the Meadowdale Presbyterian Church in Carpentersville , IL for 9 years; his second pastorate, lasting almost 26 years, was at the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Grundy Center , IA. In the course of that time, Rev. Vanderwerf preached more than 2,125 sermons, conducted over 500 funerals and 300 baptisms, and officiated at more than 200 weddings.

In 1994, he and his wife retired to Temple , TX , where he did pulpit supply at area churches and served a 18-month term as interim pastor at the Presbyterian Church of Salado. Blessed with a strong work ethic and desire to serve others, he also worked part-time at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home, formerly Sheffield Funeral Home in Temple from 1995 until 2008. A lifelong teetotaller and nonsmoker, he enjoyed good health and daily four-mile walks; the onset of his illness in April 2008 marked his first-ever hospitalization.

Rev. Vanderwerf was preceded in death by his parents, William Vanderwerf and Cora Van Tiger Vanderwerf; two infant brothers; and his beloved wife, Sally Freedman Vanderwerf.

He is survived by one sister, Sylvia Jansen of Parkersburg Iowa; one daughter, Elizabeth Vanderwerf Jurenovich of San Antonio; one son, Dr. Paul Calvin Vanderwerf and daughter-in-law, Dr. Sarah Kallick of Evanston, IL; four adoring grandchildren, Christian & Matthew Jurenovich of San Antonio and Mattias & Emily Vanderwerf of Evanston, IL; six nieces and nephews living in the Midwest.

. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Calvin’s memory to his charity of choice, the Medical Benevolence Foundation, P. O. Box 770636 , Houston , TX 77215 ( www.MBFoundation.org )

Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Temple is in charge of arrangements.