Northwestern College | Classic - Winter 2003-04

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A l u m n ie w sN o r t h w e s t e r n C l a s s i cM i n ip ro f i l eGratefully Busyby Amy ScheerTalk to Lois (Litka)G ruis some Sunday afternoon,and you’ll find she’sa l ready had a full day. Tw oSundays a month she playsthe organ and directs the bellchoir for Sheldon UnitedMethodist Church in Iowa;the second Sunday, she’s theo rganist for EmmanuelP resbyterian of Rushmore ,Minn.; and on the fourt hS u n d a y, she directs the bellchoir at First Lutheran ofWo rthington, Minn.Add to that her weekly50-60 private organ, pianoand vocal students (she’s lostcount), and she’s hardly gottime to sort the music that’sbeen piling up in her van.A demanding schedulefor anyone, not just for 76-y e a r-old Gruis. Even moreremarkable than her energeticlifestyle, however, isthat 30 years ago she hadd i fficulty speaking, let aloneteaching or directing music.B o rn with a cleft palate,the Bigelow, Minn., nativealways had put aside herd ream of becoming a classroomteacher. She studiedo rgan and taught a few studentsprivately, but it was notuntil 1972 that Gruis got her“miracle”: the ability to speakc l e a r l y, thanks to a pro s t h e t i cdevice called an obturator.She was quick to enroll atN o rt h w e s t e rn, taking asmany credits as she couldmanage with two kids athome in Sheldon. And in1976, at the age of 48, Gru i sgraduated with a musicmajor and an English minor.“I thanked God for thechance to be a teacher,” saysG ruis, who taught music forthe next 14 years, sharingtime between schools inAlumni: What’s New with Yo u ?Sioux City, Le Mars andOcheyedan, Iowa.In 1989, she paused tom a rry Hank, who showedup at her doorstep 50 yearsafter they last saw each other,saying, “Remember me?”Their 100-year-old farmhousein Wo rthington hasseen and heard many studentssince then, somepounding out notes withmom close at hand (Gru i sasks that parents attend thelessons—the “triangle oflove,” she calls it), manyre t u rning for a visit to theirLet us know so we can tell your friends and classmates. Send to: Office of PublicRelations, Nort h w e s t e rn College, 101 7th St. SW, Orange City, IA 51041. Or e-mail tobeeson@nwciowa.edu; fax number is 712-707-7370. Deadline for the spring C l a s s i ci sJan. 16.At age 76, Lois Gruis still makes music with scores of piano, organ and vocals t u d e n t s .f o rmer teacher.When Gruis isn’t teachingand Hank isn’t helpingsomeone farm, they maketime for travel. They’ve seenmost of the country by train,and Alaska by van, sleepingon their vehicle’s floor atnight. Hank has prostate cance r, so they live day by day,says Gruis. “That’s what youhave to do, don’t you?”This Christmas, Gru i sassembled her students andbell choirs for their fourt hannual Christmas recital inthe Wo rthington area. It’sh a rd to believe all thisseemed impossible at onetime. “I just needed achance,” she says of her longj o u rney toward becoming at e a c h e r. “Nort h w e s t e rn suregave me the chance.”She also puts her teaching degree touse as a part-time tutor with SylvanL e a rning Center.Name _________________________________________________________________A d d ress ________________________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Home Phone ________________________________________ Class of ____________E-Mail ________________________________________________________________’90Dawn (Knipple) Huizinga, Owatonna,Minn., writes to relate a story of Godanswering prayer at the right time.She and her husband, Tony ’89, hadbeen planning on going to October’s2 8 ▲ W i n t e r 2 0 0 3 - 0 4
N o r t h w e s t e r n C l a s s i cA l u m n ie w sPraise Gathering in Indianapolis formonths, but as the date neared, theyfelt they couldn’t aff o rd the cost ofmeals and lodging. The day afterthey started praying about whetherthey should go, Dawn found outthat her recipe for Pork Chop andPotato Bake won the $500 first-placeprize in Quick Cooking m a g a z i n e s’slow-cooker contest. The recipe willbe featured in the magazine’sJ a n u a ry / F e b ru a y r2004 issue. TheHuizingas used their winnings toattend the conference, and said theyhad a wonderful time worshipingwith 11,000 other people.’91Tim Snyder, Larchwood, Iowa, is inhis third year as principal at We s tLyon Elementary School. His wife,Sheri (Hoogeveen), is an office managerat Howalt McDowell Insurancein Sioux Falls.’92Capt. Lisa (Burris) Ciccare l l i ’s f a m i l ynow lives in Santa Clara, Calif.,w h e re she is a flight commander inc h a rge of satellite operations for amulti-billion dollar space program atOnizuka Air Force Station. Her husband,Chris, heads up the machineshop at Hi-Tech Manufacturing inCampbell. Their daughter, Ally (4), isin pre - k i n d e rg a rt e n .Mike Jacobsma is now a full part n e rwith the Klay, Veldhuizen, Bindner,De Jong and Jacobsma law firm inOrange City. He also teaches constitutionallaw and criminal law classesat Dordt College. His wife, J i l l(Huisken ’93), has been promoted tothe scheduling department at MED-TEC as a production planning coordi n a t o r.The Rev. Jason Olson, a May graduateof We s t e rn Theological Seminary, ispastor of Cro s s roads CommunityC h u rch in Estherville, Iowa.’93Brian Dirkx teaches third grade atS a c red Heart School in Spencer,Iowa, and serves as assistant baseballcoach. His wife, Michele (Koopmans),teaches English and is the head volleyballcoach at Spencer HighS c h o o l .Members of the Class of 1963 gathering at Homecoming included: (front ro w, left toright) John De Zeeuw, Ella (Duistermars) De Zeeuw, Twila Netten, Ken Netten;(second row) Paul Aykens, Carole (Kolenbrander) Aykens, June Van Oort, Betty( F o n k e rt) Ferrell; (third row) Jan (Hoogeveen) Peters, Judith (Herzog) Symens andD a rryl Tu rn w a l l .Lori De Jongh-Slight is the head volleyballcoach at Northwest MissouriState University. She was head coachat Des Moines Area CommunityCollege for the last four years. Herhusband, Jay, is principal and athleticdirector at Nodaway High Schoolin Hopkins. They live in Mary v i l l ewith their son, Nicholas (2).’94Jamie (Van Ruler) DeJong is a stay-athomemom in Leota, Minn. She alsos e rves as bookkeeper for the tru c k-ing business that her husband, Ivan,operates.’95Joel Kraai works at a bank in Denverand attends seminary part time. Hiswife, Lisa (Jarv i s ), is a paralegal.’96B ryce Assink is a re s e a rch chemist forPfizer in Portage, Mich. His wife,D a rcie (Dop), is a stay-at-home mom.The Rev. Jill (Zeiger) Ver Steeg is ministerof spiritual formation at Mere d i t hDrive Reformed Church in DesMoines. She graduated from We s t e rnTheological Seminary in May.’97Shannon (Claude) Cagle and her husband,Wayne, live in Kent, Wa s h .She is a stay-at-home mom for theirc h i l d ren, Jenna (4) and Noah (2),and is working toward a master’sd e g ree in teaching.Celebrating their 25th reunion were these members of the Class of 1978: (front ro w, left to right) Evan Peuse ’76, Shawn( D u i s t e rmars) Peuse, Shelley Heijerman, Mark Heijerman, Ruth (Korver ’81) Landegent, David Landegent; (second row) DuaneBeeson, Aletha (Koele) Beeson, Rob Va n ’t Land, Bonnie (Hoskins ’82) Va n ’t Land, Debbie (Sinkey) Rensink, Clyde Rensink ’77;( t h i rd row) Duane Feekes, Marilyn (Tjeerdsma) Feekes, Jim Mickelson, Kim (Witte) Mickelson, Deb (Dunlop) De Haan, DennisDe Haan, Lori (Vander Veen ’82) Vander Laan, David Vander Laan; (fourth row) Earl Woudstra, Karen (De Boer ’79)Woudstra, Jeff Meyn, Cheri (Block ’77) Meyn, Connie (Burg a rdt) Eekhoff, Tammy (DeNeui ’77) Sneller and Wayne Sneller.Shiran Nathaniel, Monte Vista, Colo.,is the operations manager forSodexho Campus Services at AdamsState College. His wife, K r i s t i(Nieuwendorp ’98), stays at homewith their three childre n .’98Lisa (Van Middendorp) De Smit a n dher husband, Tro y, live in Carm e l ,2 9 ▲ W i n t e r 2 0 0 3 - 0 4
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Northwestern College | Classic - Winter 2003-04

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