Arlyne De Vries ’43 Ten Clay

Mrs. Arlyne Ten Clay, age 95, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, May 18, 2018, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

There will be a funeral service on Saturday, May 26, at 11:00am, at the American Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Michael Hardeman and the Rev. Elizabeth Hardeman will officiate. Following a lunch, interment will be at the East Lawn Cemetery in Sheldon. Visitation will be after 5:00pm on Friday, with the family present from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Arlyne Lois was born on August 16, 1922, in Kesley, Iowa, the daughter of Claus and Frances (Kurvink) De Vries. In 1926, her family moved to Archer, Iowa, where her father owned and operated a hardware store. She graduated from the Archer High School in 1939 at age 16. She attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and received her Associate Degree in Elementary Education from the Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls. She was an elementary school teacher in George, Iowa.

On June 15, 1944, Arlyne was united in marriage to the Rev. Albert H. Ten Clay at the American Reformed Church in Archer. The couple served Reformed Church pastorates in El Monte, California; Oostburg, Wisconsin; and South Holland, Illinois. He was Executive Director of Camp Manitoqua near Frankfort, Illinois; and they served the Central Reformed Church in Sioux Center, Iowa.

In 1972, Arlyne and her husband moved to Orange City, when the Rev. Ten Clay accepted a Reformed church position as Executive Secretary of the Synod of the West. They retired in Orange City in 1981, during which time they traveled in eight different countries. He passed away on July 17, 1985, after 41 years of marriage.

Music was a very important part of Arlyne’s life. She gave piano lessons, played the church organs, and she and her husband often sang duets in their various pastorates.

Arlyne was a member of the American Reformed Church, where she served as an elder, Sunday school teacher, choir member, Ruth Circle member, and a member of the church’s weekly Monday morning women’s prayer group for 34 years. Arlyne was also a member of the Reformed Church Women’s Ministries (RCWM) and held offices on the local, classical, and synodical levels. She was a past president of the Northwestern College Women’s Auxiliary in Orange City; a member of the Orange City Women’s Literature Club for 23 years; a member of the Orange City Ramblers Club, and a member of the Northwest Iowa Senior Saints Choir. Arlyne enjoyed cooking, entertaining, reading, sewing, and needleworking.

Those left to cherish her memory are her three children: Marcia, and her husband, Robert Vos, of Seattle, Washington; Roger Ten Clay, and his wife, Sherry (Vander Meer), of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Denise, and her husband, Lynn Sneller, of Orange City. six grandchildren: Leisha Vos, and her husband, Jason Baker, of Vancouver, Washington; Kent Vos, and his wife, Smitha, of Fairfax, Virginia; Mike Ten Clay, and his wife, Kim, of Wentzville, Missouri; David Ten Clay, of West Des Moines; Matt Sneller, and his wife, Allison of Edina, Minnesota; and Jason Sneller, and his wife, Stephanie, of Oswego, Illinois. nine great grandchildren; a brother-in-law, the Rev. Ellsworth Ten Clay, of Zeeland, Michigan; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Arlyne was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother, Wayne De Vries, and his wife, Eleanor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. her husband’s siblings and spouses: Margaret and Herman Webb, William and Tillie Ten Clay, Hattie and Henry Van Bruggen, Elsie Ten Clay, Dick and Jennie Ten Clay, Edna and John Haack, Henry and Lucile Ten Clay, John and Irene Ten Clay, Charles and Ruth Ten Clay, Ralph and Jane Ten Clay, Thelmar and Lois Ten Clay, and Eugene and Norma Ten Clay.

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