Ione Joyce Kuyper went home to be with the Lord on Nov. 21, 2008, at the age of 78. She was born at home in Freeborn County to parents Peter E. and Gudrun (Engstrom) Hove. Ione graduated from the Albert Lea High School in 1949. She was united in marriage to the love of her life Donald Edward Kuyper on Sunday, March 4, 1951. The two started a growing family, the early years of which Ione dedicated to lovingly caring for her husband and five children. When the children had grown she began working outside the home. She worked at several places including a bakery, a drug store and a pizza parlor; Ione enjoyed meeting new people. Later in life she volunteered in the community and her church. She was a hard-working volunteer, churning out hundreds of pies for the Christmas Fair, along with cookies and cinnamon rolls for church fundraisers and bazaars. Ione considered it a blessing to volunteer at the Winston Visitor Center and the food pantry. She was a member of the United Methodist Church for 33 years. Ione enjoyed walking along the Oregon Coast barefooted in the sand, reading, corresponding with friends and family, sitting outside and soaking in God’s beautiful creation, gardening, collecting Christmas angels, villages, and decorating her home at Christmas time. Ione loved all these things, but the single most important thing for her and her time was family. She would gather family together at every opportunity and she also found a way to spend time with each and everyone of them. She loved her grandchildren and spoiled them rotten with hugs, kisses and cookies.
Ione is survived by her loving husband of over 57 years, Don Kuyper of Winston, Ore.; children Greg Kuyper, Joyce Newcomer and her husband Larry, Bill Kuyper and his wife Diana, Tim Kuyper and his wife Pixie, and Betsy Lewis and her husband Craig; sisters Ethel Peterson and her husband Marlin and Elizabeth Hove; sister-in-laws Diana and Jenny Hove; 10 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews, including a nephew, Jeff Hove, who grew up as close as a son. Memorial services will be held graveside at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Albert Lea on Saturday at 11 a.m. Officiating will be the Rev. Daniel Baker of the First Lutheran Church. Following the service family and friends are invited to gather at Bethany Hall First Lutheran Church located at 301 West Clark St. in Albert Lea.