Ruth Pruis ’56 Boender

Mrs. Ruth Boender, age 89, of Sheldon, formerly of Boyden, passed away on Friday, March 11, 2022, at the Sanford Sheldon Medical Center. There will be a memorial service on Friday, March 18, at 2:30pm, at the First Reformed Church in Boyden. The Rev. Heath De Jong will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the Hospers Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be on Thursday, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Hull. Ruth Dorcas was born on September 3, 1932, on a farm near Morrison, Illinois, the daughter of Carl and Anna (Huizenga) Pruis. She attended the Delhi Grade School and graduated from Morrison High School. She worked as an operator at the Morrison Telephone Company before enrolling at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. The following year she transferred to Central College in Pella, Iowa, where she earned her teaching certificate. She taught upper grades at the McAllister Consolidated School in Mount Pleasant Township, Illinois, and later returned to Hope College for her Junior year. On June 16, 1955, she was united in marriage to the Rev. John R. Boender in Morrison. While John was serving in the United States Army, stationed in Germany, Ruth completed her bachelor’s degree at Hope College. Following John’s honorable discharge, Ruth joined him in ministry by sharing her love of the Lord Jesus with others. She assisted as a pastor’s wife as much as she could while also being a wife and mother. She often prepared food for those in need and accompanied John when she could on his pastoral visits. Together they served at Reformed Churches in Allendale, Michigan, for five years; Harrison, South Dakota, for four years; Little Rock, Iowa, for eight and a half years; Hingham, Wisconsin, for sixteen years; and Woodstock, Minnesota, for nine years. In semi-retirement, they returned to Allendale, where John was calling pastor for four years before moving to Boyden, where they were calling partners at the First Reformed Church in Hull and at the Bethel Reformed Church in Little Rock. In November of 2013, Pastor and Mrs. Boender moved to the Fieldcrest Assisted Living in Sheldon. John passed away on December 3, 2016, in Sheldon, after more than 61 years of marriage. Ruth was currently a member of the First Reformed Church as well as the William-Monster American Legion Auxiliary Post, both in Boyden. She enjoyed cooking and canning, sewing, singing and playing the piano, visiting with others, and spending time with her family. Survivors include two sons and their wives, David and Vera Boender, of Pierre, South Dakota; and Andrew and Susan Boender, of Rock Valley; a daughter, Ruthann Boender, of Sheldon; five grandchildren, Timothy Boender, and his wife, Dawn; Samuel Boender; Caleb Boender; Elizabeth Boender; and Zachary Boender; four great-grandchildren, Eva, Anna, and Lily Boender; and Barry Browning; a sister-in-law, Josephine Van Oort; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by five infant children; two brothers and their wives, James and Ella Mae Pruis, and Charles and Phyliss Huizenga Pruis; two sisters, Analene, and her husband, Rev. Charles Botkin; and Carlene Pruis; a niece, Linda Pettenger; an infant nephew, William Pruis; three brothers-in-law, an infant also named John Boender; Claude Boender, and his wife, Lucy; and Henry Boender, and his wife, Anna; three sisters-in-law, Lucretia Boender; Adrianna Boender; and Arlene, and her husband, Gerrit Ver Hoek; a brother-in-law, Jean Van Oort; and two nephews, Harold Ver Hoek, and Phillip Van Oort.