Marlene Joyce (Te Brake) Van Gurp

Marlene Joyce Van Gurp, age 81, of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada, passed away Friday, March 7, in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada.

Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, at the First Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg.  Interment will be at Holland Township Cemetery.  Arrangements are with Tri-County Funeral Home of Prinsburg.  www.tricountyfuneral.com

Marlene (Te Brake) Van Gurp was born on April 11, 1943, to Herman and Jeanette (Zylstra) Te Brake on a farm west of Brooten, MN, USA, the third of six children. Marlene was raised in the Brooten area, graduating from Brooten High School. The next year Marlene attended Dordt College in Sioux Center, IA for two years before teaching at an elementary school in Edgerton, MN for several years. While at Dordt, she met Arnold Van Dyken, whom she married in 1966.

After living in Omaha, NE for two years, Arnold and Marlene moved to Prinsburg, MN, where they made their home together until Arnold’s death in 2003, after 36 ½ years of marriage. Their union was blessed with four children. Marlene was a long-time member of First Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg.

In January 2017, Marlene married Harry Van Gurp of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. Harry and Marlene made their home in Aylmer, in the area of which Harry had lived since emigrating from The Netherlands in the 1940’s. Harry was previously married to Jane Helder (d. 2013), and they were blessed with six children, Jannette Van Gurp, Betty (Jake) Kraayenbrink, Casper (Anita) Van Gurp, Joyce (Henry) Hogeterp, Jessica (Paul) Vanden Brink, James (Jennifer) Van Gurp. Marlene was a member of Bethel United Reformed Church in Aylmer at the time of her death.

Beyond her diligent work in the home, Marlene worked at various times as a cook at Central Minnesota Christian School and as a commercial cleaner. Marlene was a skilled seamstress, working in the community for many years to sew, alter, and repair clothing for a large number of people.

Marlene was a dedicated wife and mother, her life marked by humble service to those around her.  She evidenced the “unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” spoken of in I Peter 3:4. Her only comfort was that she belonged, in both body and soul, in life and in death, to her faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. She is now relieved of all earthly sin, suffering, and struggle. Her life was a testimony to the grace of God and may our memories of her be the same.

She is survived by her husband Harry, daughter Lisa (Herman) Westendorp, sons Scott (Caroline) Van Dyken, Eric (Sarah) Van Dyken, and Bruce (Kristi) Van Dyken, sister Ardis (Al) Negen, brother Mark (Denise) Te Brake, sisters-in-law Jean Te Brake and Connie Te Brake, 17 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren.

Marlene was preceded in death by her parents, husband Arnold, brothers John Te Brake and Herman Te Brake, sister Henrietta Tanner, and brother-in-law Russ Tanner.

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