Albert Ellis Boersma

Albert Ellis Boersma, formerly of Prinsburg, passed away peacefully on January 15, 2020, at the age of 91 at Bethesda in Willmar.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 21, at the First Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg. Interment will be in Holland Township Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. on Monday, January 20, at the First Christian Reformed Church and will continue for one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Central Minnesota Christian School are preferred. Arrangements are with the Tri-County Funeral Home in Prinsburg.  www.tricountyfuneral com

He was born on May 1, 1928, to Benjamin and Henrietta (Ledeboer) Boersma and was raised on their farm near Prinsburg. He attended Central Minnesota Christian School and Raymond High School. On October 20, 1948, he married LaVerne Landaal, a young schoolteacher who had moved to town to teach at CMCS. They stayed on the family farm and raised six children there.

Albert was a dairy farmer but also raised crops and a variety of other farm animals. After retiring from farming, he worked for Willmar Poultry Company. He was also an avid gardener.

He was a life-long member of First Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg, where he participated in men’s Bible studies and sang in the Male Chorus, as well as in a quartet, and served as elder and deacon. He and LaVerne valued Christian education; all of their children graduated from Central Minnesota Christian School and Dordt College.

After LaVerne’s death in 2006, he met and then married Betty Johnson on December 27,  2010. They recently celebrated 9 years of marriage.

Albert was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. Though the children and grandchildren were scattered across the country, he and LaVerne enjoyed traveling and seeing national parks and other attractions while on their way to a baptism or graduation, rarely missing any.

He was predeceased by his wife of 59 years, LaVerne; his daughter, Marlene DeGroot; a brother and two sisters: Gladys Berghuis, Harlan Boersma, and Ethel Cunigan; LaVerne’s two sisters and a brother: Edith VandenBerg, Orville Landaal, and Joyce Schouten; and all but one of their spouses.

He is survived by his wife Betty; his children: Dorothy Boersma (Philadelphia, PA), Keith (Lois) Boersma (Ashton, IA), Sharon (Phil) Mulder (Sioux Center, IA), Lois (Gene) Reichert (Iowa City, IA), Steve (Lynn) Boersma (Cawker City, KS), and son-in-law Bob DeGroot (Mount Vernon, WA); 13 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Jessie Landaal; Betty’s children: John (Jan) Petersen (Cumming, GA), Ginger (Kurt) Murray (Fishers, IN), Earleen (Scott) Warner (Blaine, MN), Paul (Kristine) Johnson (Rogers, MN), Sharon Oliech (Osseo, MN); 8 grandchildren; and 3 great grandchildren.

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