Ann(a) L. De Vries was born to George and Harmanna (Spoelstra) De Vries on July 14, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois. Ann was the oldest of three children. She passed away on January 26, 2017 in Denton, TX.
George De Vries was a dairy farmer and Ann loved to help her father with farm chores, especially with the cows. She developed brucellosis and had to stop helping. Ann discovered at a young age that she liked to cook and began helping out in the kitchen preparing meals for the family. Later in life anytime Ann would bring something to a church function, it was always the first thing to be eaten.
Ann went out on her own as a teenager. She lived for a while with an aunt and uncle and later moved into a boarding house. During this time she had many jobs, one of which was working as a keypunch operator for IBM. Ann loved this job and was literally in on the cutting edge of technology. Ann’s parentsmoved to Delavan, Wisconsin when Ann was 18 and insisted that Ann move with them.
While living in Delavan, she met her future husband, Bert H. Vriezen. They were married on July 30, 1948. They had four live children – Marguerite, Gary, Loren, and Bruce. A baby daughter between Gary and Loren preceded the family in death.
Ann and Bert moved to Denver, Colorado where they lived for 29 years. The children grew up and moved away, so in 1990 Ann and Bert moved to Sun City, Arizona.
They both loved the weather and their final church, Covenant Presbyterian. They began a ministry of visiting the elderly and shut-ins. When Bert passed away in 2003, Ann stayed one more year before moving in 2004 to Denton, Texas to live closer to her son Gary and his wife, Lynne. She lived 6 years in a senior living apartment and 7 years in a nursing home.
Ann had a wonderful ministry for God no matter where she was. She is missed by all. Services will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at Delavan Christian Reformed Church, 850 Oak Street in Delavan with Rev. Tim Kooiman officiating. Burial will take place at Spring Grove Cemetery.
