Submitted by: Dan Rich
Judith Ann Vroon VanderZee
South Bend Tribune 10/21/1996
Judith Ann Vroon Vander Zee died on Oct. 20, after a long struggle with multiple sclerosis.
She was born on March 7, 1946, in Taxila, India (now Pakistan), as the second daughter of Dr. John and Mrs. Theresa Vroon. With her parents, who served as medical missionaries, she grew up in Pakistan and Nigeria. In 1968, she graduated from Calvin College and worked as a music teacher for elementary school children, until illness forced her to stop.
In 1967, she married Leonard J. Vander Zee, presently pastor of the South Bend Christian Reformed Church, and together, they raised four children: Renee Teresa Damstra and her spouse, Herman Damstra, Jr. of Grand Rapids, Mich., Marie Christine Vander Zee Dershem and her spouse, Aric Dershem of Bloomington, Ind., Lenore Elizabeth of South Bend, and Anton Leonard of South Bend; her mother; a sister, the Rev. Marchiene Vroon Rienstra and her spouse, Dr. John Rienstra of Douglas, Mich.; a brother, Dr. Anton Vroon and his spouse, Jane Vroon of Jacksonville, Fla.; and a brother, Dr. Ronald Vroon and his spouse, Dr. Gail Lenhoff of Los Angeles, Calif.
Even in the midst of illness, she displayed exemplary courage and faith that blessed countless lives in the communities, where she lived and the churches, where she worshipped.
The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the First Christian Church of South Bend, where friends may call one hour before services, and from 1 to 3 and 6 to 8 p.m., today, in the Kaniewski Funeral Home, 3545 N. Bendix Dr., South Bend. Memorial gifts may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society and to Hospice of St. Joseph County.