Anna (Valk) Keizer passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, at the age of 86 after a lengthy time battling the debilitating disease of dementia.
Anna was born on Oct. 7, 1933, to Sjoerd and Elisabeta (Damstra) Valk in Vrouwen Prachie, Friesland, Holland.
Anna was 15 when her mother, whom she cared for, passed away after an extended illness and then Anna helped care for her dad and younger brother as the other brothers and sisters were already married and had families of their own. She lived through World War II, which was a difficult and poor time for her family.
In 1953 Anna, along with her future husband Kor Keizer, immigrated by taking a ship from Holland, then train across country to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where she lived with her sister Henke’s family and worked as a housekeeper for others while Kor lived with a sponsoring family and worked on a mink farm.
On Dec. 19, 1954, Anna and Kor were married in Edmonton, Alberta, and lived in a chicken coop as their first home.
Anna was a homemaker and together they had three children born in Edmonton: Jerry, George and Liz. They immigrated to the United States, moving to Artesia, California, where they had one more child, Annette, and where the family became U.S. citizens. Seven years later, they moved to Lynden, where they became dairy farmers. Anna was always busy feeding calves and caring for her beautiful garden. She had quite a green thumb, she kept a clean home and she always had cookies and tea ready for after-school snack before the kids did chores in the barn. Together Anna and Kor enjoyed many trips back to Holland to see their families, along with many camping and fishing trips in their motorhome.
Anna was an avid knitter making sweaters for her grandchildren when they were younger and she kept all of our feet warm with new slippers and later dishcloths, also known as dookies, made for every Christmas gift. She also enjoyed painting ceramics and paint-by-number pictures. She attended The Knitting Group with other Dutch ladies who knitted lap blankets for Cascade Home and to sell at the fundraiser bazaars. Anna also enjoyed attending church, rotating with her daughters at First Christian Reformed Church and Faith Community Church.
Anna is survived by her children, Jerry (Nelva), George (Sherry), Liz (Wes) Vander Pol and Annette (Ed) Kooistra; her grandchildren Janel, George, Becky, Jennifer, Melissa, Amanda, Joel, Jon, Erin, Daniel and their spouses; along with 26 great-grandchildren; and many relatives in Holland and Canada.
Anna was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Kor, in 2016; grandson Jason in 2019; her parents; all of her siblings, Tjamme, Maaike, Dirkje, Henke, Jan, Jaap and their spouses.
The family thanks the staff at Lynden Manor Memory Care for their care, patience and love for our mom, grandma and great-grandma these past two years, and to Hospice for these last days of support.
Contributions in Anna’s name can be made to New Way Ministries or your favorite charity.
Visitation at Gillies Funeral Home was on Sunday, Feb. 23. Burial was in Monumenta Cemetery on Tuesday, Feb. 25, followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m. in First Christian Reformed Church of Lynden.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Gilllies Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
