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Denise ‘DeeDee’ Mastbergen
Denise “DeeDee” Mastbergen, 68, of Marcus, formerly of Paullina and Le Mars, died Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, at Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars.
Denise Lucretia Mastbergen, the daughter of Lambert and Marianne (Ducommun) Mastbergen, was born on Feb. 18, 1955, in Sheldon. Denise was the youngest of four children.
Later, the family moved to Hartley, where she attended elementary, middle school, and high school. After graduation, she attended Westmar College in Le Mars for a short time.
As a child, Denise sang with her family. She sang solos in her church and contest solos for the Federated of Music Clubs held in Sioux City. As a young girl, she played in the band, sang in the chorus, and attended church regularly with her family. She sang in the church choir and was confirmed at Trinity United Church of Christ in Hartley. Later, she became a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Paullina.
DeeDee loved her family and enjoyed visiting her grandparents, Arie and Carrie Mastbergen and Charles and Marguerite Ducommun. The Ducommuns, who lived on a farm near Paullina, was where she learned to cook, care for farm animals, and chase new kittens in the barn. In 1977, DeeDee and her Swiss grandmother, Marguerite Ducommun and her parents traveled to Switzerland and visited many relatives there. It was a special time for her.
She and her sister Jan loved playing together and sometime were scamps together. They were a special pair. When her parents retired and went to Arizona, DeeDee would go with them. There they all would visit Jan and her brother-in-law, Jeff, who lived in Chandler.
While living in Paullina, Denise joined a wood carvers’ group and enjoyed learning that skill. Later, she took up knitting, crocheting, and tatting, skills she learned from her mother and grandmother. Denise was very gifted in these hobbies.
As an adult, DeeDee worked at various jobs around Hartley, Sutherland, and Sioux Center. When her parents passed away, she lived in the tenant house on the Ducommun farm close to her brother Ross and sister-in-law, Elaine. She loved living there because she enjoyed being close to her nieces, Tiffany, Kelsey, and Ashley.
After a time, Denise’s health required more care, she went to live at The Abbey of Le Mars and loved the people there and they loved her. In 2016, she moved to the Heartland Care Center in Marcus. She loved the staff and the people there and they loved her, too. DeeDee had many good times there. DeeDee recently celebrated her 68th birthday on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023.
DeeDee will be greatly missed. She was a fun lady who enjoyed her family, little children and animals, and her pastors, the Rev. Dr. Nevada De Lapp and the Rev. Brian Hofman. Rest in peace, dear sister, aunt, cousin, and friend.
She is survived by her siblings: Lynda (Mastbergen) Bulthuis of Le Mars, Ross and Elaine (Scholten) Mastbergen of Paullina, and Janice (Mastbergen) and Jeff Burton of Chandler, Arizona; her nephews: Sean and Heather (Blankers) Bulthuis of Chula Vista, California, and Sidney and Christie (Veen) Bulthuis of Rock Valley; her nieces: Tiffany (Mastbergen) and Scott Zeilenga of Sheldon, Ashley (Mastbergen) and Shalom Nwaokolo of Sheldon, and Kelsey (Mastbergen) and Matt Kruse of Lennox, South Dakota; great-nephews: Henry Bulthuis, Trygve Bulthuis, Miles Bulthuis, Simon Bulthuis, Micah Zeilenga, Ezichi Nwaokolo, and Nnamdi Nwaokolo; great-nieces: Elizabeth Bulthuis, Elizabeth Zeilenga, Rebekah Zeilenga, and Daniela Mastbergen; her aunt, Idelle Mastbergen of Sheldon; and many cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Arie and Carrie Mastbergen; her maternal grandparents, Charles and Marguerite Ducommun; her parents, Lambert and Marianne Mastbergen; and a brother-in-law, Byron Bulthuis.
Funeral services were at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Rexwinkel Funeral Home in Le Mars. The Rev. Brian Hofman from Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Le Mars officiated. Burial followed in Liberty Township Cemetery, rural Meriden. Visitation with the family present was from 10 a.m., until service time on Tuesday and following the service during a time of lunch and fellowship, all at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Denise’s name to Village Northwest Unlimited in Sheldon, in care of the family.
Arrangements are with the Rexwinkel Funeral Home in Le Mars.
Expressions of sympathy can be extended to the family through www.rexwinkelfh.com.