Chester VanderZee, 93, of Volga, went to his eternal home on Friday, February 14 after a recurrence of cancer.  Chester was born on February 2, 1932 to Oscar & Helena (VanWyk) VanderZee on a farm near New Holland, SD.  He helped on the family farm until being drafted into the Army in 1952, spending time in Korea until being honorably discharged in 1954.

Chester married Betty Veenstra on December 30, 1958 in Corsica, SD.  Their first home was in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he graduated from Calvin College in 1959. Before beginning his first teaching job at Artesia Christian School in Dairy Valley CA, Chester and Betty enjoyed working as fire lookouts in the Grand Teton Mountains in the summer.  Their first child, Karen, was born in California and joined them for the second summer as fire lookouts.  They continued to enjoy living near mountains when he taught at Manhattan Christian School in Montana for 4 years while also earning a Master of Education Degree from Montana State University.  Their second child, Darrel, was born in Montana.

To fulfill his passion of learning more about his "Father's world,"  Chester earned a Master of Combined Sciences Degree from the University of Mississippi in 1966, after which he taught biology at Lakeland College near Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  Their third child, Thelene, was born in Wisconsin. His love of learning also led to spending two summers at research labs in Mississippi and Illinois.

At Sioux Empire College in Hawarden, Iowa Chester taught biology, art, earth science, and math for three years.  Their fourth child, Sheila, was born during that time.  Chester's last and longest teaching job was at Sioux Valley High School in Volga, SD where he taught various science courses from 1970 until his retirement in 1994.  He received the South Dakota Outstanding Biology Teacher Award in 1981.

In retirement, Chester and Betty enjoyed traveling and working with disaster response agencies helping with relief efforts after hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods.  Chester was also active in Habitat for Humanity, Lions Club, Hope Haven wheelchair ministry, Gideons, prison ministry, and Volga American Legion serving as chaplain for many years.  Chester enjoyed woodworking projects, fixing old organs, gardening, reading, and spending time with family.

Grateful for having shared in his life are his wife, Betty, of Volga; children: Karen (Ron) Knutson of Volga; Darrel (Carol) VanderZee of Onalaska, WI; Thelene (Mike) Tornow of Villa Park, IL; and Sheila (Brian) Kruis of Albuquerque, NM; grandchildren:  Austin (Erin) Knutson of Volga; Larissa (Aubrey) Scherff of Trent, SD; Mandy (Isaac) Wilde of Volga; Samuel VanderZee of La Crosse, WI; Elijah (Rose) Tornow of Grimes, IA; Leah Tornow of Des Moines, IA; Amber (Aaron) Jones, Josiah Kruis, Elizabeth (Jeremiah) Bell all of Albuquerque, NM; Ruthann Kruis of Gallup, NM; and Eugene Kruis of Albuquerque, NM; 13 great grandchildren; siblings: Curt VanderZee, Wanda VanderZee, Myra Matanane, Delmar VanderZee, Bernice Kreykes; 13 siblings-in-law; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother-in-law.

Visitation will be Sunday, February 23 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at Eidsness Funeral Chapel in Volga, SD.  The funeral service will be Monday, February 24 at 9:30 a.m. at the Christian Reformed Church in Volga with interment following at Hillside Cemetery.  Memorials may be directed to Gideons or Hope Haven's local wheelchair ministry.