Mr. Merle Van Klompenburg, age 94, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, April 11, 2025, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

A visitation with the family present will be held on Wednesday, April 16, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City. There will be a funeral service on Thursday, April 17, at 10:30am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City with the Rev. Mark Haverdink officiating. Interment will follow the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City.

Merle Glenn was born on August 28, 1930, in Orange City, the first of three sons born to Gerrit and Bertha (De Jong) Van Klompenburg. He grew up in Orange City, where he was a student at the Christian School and graduated from high school in 1947. He remained in Orange City and attended Northwestern Junior College for one year before working as a mechanic at his father’s garage, Van’s Super Service.

He was united in marriage to Ella Mae Van Meeveren on June 30, 1950, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. Two years later, Merle was drafted into the United States Army, and the couple moved to Fort Lee, Virginia. Merle served as a mechanics teacher, until being discharged in 1954, when he and Ella Mae returned to Orange City. In the late 1950’s, Merle started the Soft Water Service Company, selling and maintaining soft water systems in the area around Orange City. Several years later, after his father-in-law retired, he also began farming. He later sold the soft water business but continued to farm well into his upper eighties. In 2024, he became a resident of the Prairie Ridge Care Center.

Mr. Van Klompenburg was a life-long member of the First Reformed Church in Orange City, where he served for many years as a Sunday school teacher. He was also a member of the Pressman-Kosters American Legion, the Saber Saddle Club, and in earlier years he served as a Boy Scout Master. He used his mechanical skills throughout his life, often rebuilding damaged cars and trucks. He also spent many years raising purebred Suffolks sheep, which he and Ella Mae enjoyed showing at numerous state and county fairs around the Midwest.

He is survived by his wife, Ella Mae, of Orange City; two sons, Doug Van Klompenburg, and his wife, Donna, of Columbus, Indiana; and Kevin Van Klompenburg, and his friend, Linda Brunick, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; two grandsons, Ryan Van Klompenburg, of Indianapolis, Indiana; and Kyle Van Klompenburg, and his wife, Alicen, of London, England; two great-grandchildren, Artie and Lainie Van Klompenburg; and a brother and his wife, Norman and Patricia Van Klompenburg, of Newton, Iowa.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Rodney Van Klompenburg; and a sister-in-law and her husband, Arlene and Jack Mouw.