Betty Mulder-Vander Wal

People often consider themselves blessed by the many events of their lives - sharing love with a spouse, caring for their children, experiencing new adventures every day. Betty Ann Mulder-Vander Wal was one of those special people. Through her warmth and generosity, she exemplified all the wonderful things a mother, grandmother and wife should be.

1924 found the country in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, when flappers and speakeasies were popular among people living in the big cities. For those living in smaller towns, it was a time of hard work and raising families. Delbert and Fern (Maynard) Goodhart lived in the town of Grand Haven, Michigan, which is on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River. Delbert earned a living as a carpenter while Fern cared for their two children and made preparations for the arrival of their third child. Daughter Betty Ann was born on June 8, 1924, bringing great happiness to her family. She was followed by two more siblings, who completed Delbert and Fern's family.

Shortly after Betty's birth, her family moved to Colorado for a little over a year. Thereafter, they returned to Holland and made their home on East 26th Street. At the time, however, a new ordinance was enacted that the houses on 26th Street must have indoor plumbing, which Betty's house did not. So to fix this problem, Betty's father decided to "move" the whole house to West 21 Street. When Betty told her teacher this, she thought Betty misunderstood and that they were simply moving. The day came for the big move and Betty sat next to the window at her school, Longfellow Elementary, until she saw her house passing by and told her teacher, who just about fell over at this sight. Betty enjoyed telling this story for many years to come.

Eventually, Betty's father built another house for the family with indoor plumbing just two doors down from their original plot on 26th Street. Here, the family attended the Holland City Mission, and Betty finished her education at Montello Park School, graduating from the eighth grade. She then took her first job at Hekman Rusk, a bakery that was known for making the Dutch bread called Rusk. The family made another move to Ypsilanti, where her father took some work for a short time. Here, Betty worked in an Airplane Boomer Plant, and after they moved back to Holland, she took a job at Hart and Cooly. It was here that Betty was introduced by her girlfriend to a handsome young serviceman named Gerald Mulder. The two soon became romantically involved and were happily married on January 12, 1946.

The newlyweds made their first home together in an upstairs apartment on 19th Street in Holland. Over the next several years, Betty and Gerald were blessed with eight children: Sharon Ann, Rocky, Bernard, Dinah, Bing, Jodi, Richard, who died at the age of three, and Diane, who died shortly after birth. With a growing family, Gerald built them a house on Riverhills Drive on the Black River north of town in the early 1950s. Gerald earned a living as a welder and worked with his brothers in their family welding shop on 10th Street. Meanwhile, Betty worked at the General Electric plant in Holland for the next 20 years before retiring in 1975. Once the children arrived, she worked mostly nights so she could take care of them during the day.

Time together as a family was always important to Betty. When Gerald's family business went under, he began working on oil pipelines out of town and was gone all week and home on the weekends. Betty pretty much had the sole responsibility of taking care of the home and the children, but she made sure everyone did their part by pitching in around the house. Betty was always very supportive of her children and encouraged them in all things. Since Gerald was very stern with the children and expected much from them, they would go to Betty with any kinds of problems, good or bad. Aside from being a great mom, Betty was also a good cook, and no one ever left her house hungry. Every year when the family went to the Allegan Fair, they would stop along the way and have a picnic, complete with Betty's delicious fried chicken. They always had a big garden at home and much of its bounty went to feed the family. The one sure way Betty had to make sure the family spent time together every week was to have a big Sunday dinner that no one was allowed to miss.

As a couple, Betty and Gerald spent much of their leisure time at the Vet's club, playing cards with friends. Betty was a big fan of listening to the town's radio program and reading the newspaper daily to keep up on the goings on in Holland. Sadly, in 1981, Betty lost her beloved husband Gerald after 35 years of marriage. But Betty wasn't destined to be alone yet, and she started spending time with George Vander Wal, who she and Gerald used to play cards with at the Club along with his wife. Betty and George were soon married and began spending lots of time together traveling. They visited places like Alaska, the Virgin Islands, the Panama Canal and Mexico. Betty's favorite trip was to Alaska, which they visited twice, because of its pure and natural beauty. At home, the couple attended Bethel Reformed Church together, while Betty was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW post in Holland. Sadly, George died in 1997, but Betty counted their 10 years together as some of the very best years of her life.

Betty was a very special lady who dedicated her life to her family. She will be dearly missed.

Betty Ann Mulder-Vander Wal, age 82, of Holland, MI, died on Saturday, May 26, 2007, at Holland Hospital. She was preceded in death by first husband, Gerald Mulder, second husband, George Vander Wal, son, Richard Mulder, daughter, Diane Mulder, and grandson, Ryan Mulder. Her family includes her children: Sharon Ann Van Langevelde of Gobles, MI, Rocky Mulder of FL, Bernard and Dawn Mulder of Zeeland, MI, Dinah Hertz of West Olive, MI, Bing and Barbara Mulder of St. Louis, MO, Jodi and Scott Parrish of Hamilton, MI; 12 grandchildren, seven great grandchildren; brother, Edward Goodhart; several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30, at the Downtown Chapel of Dykstra Life Story Funeral Home, 29 East 9th Street, Holland, MI. Burial will be in Pilgrim Home Cemetery. Visiting will be from 1-2 p.m. on Wednesday at the funeral home. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a memory of Betty or sign her online guest book.