Louise M. Van Ersvelde

Louise M. Van Ersvelde, age 77, of Brooklyn, passed away Friday, June 30, 2023 at Brooklyn, Community Estate, Brooklyn. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, July 10, 2023, at Grace United Methodist Church, Brooklyn, with Rev. John Dodds and Rev. Cephas Davis officiating. Burial will be in the Brooklyn Memorial Cemetery, Brooklyn. The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 p.m., Sunday, July 9, 2023, at the Michael J. Manatt Community Center, Brooklyn. Memorials may be contributed to CSF, Citizen Scholarship Foundation, of the BGM School District, or Camp Courageous. Kloster Funeral Home, Brooklyn, is assisting the family with arrangements.

Louise Marie Messer Van Ersvelde, was born March 18, 1946 to parents Emmett John Messer and Mary Louise Byers Messer. She was born in Grinnell and grew up in Deep River, Iowa. She graduated from Deep River-Millersburg (DR-M) in 1964. After graduation, she attended AIB Business School.

In her youth, she was very active in 4-H. She and a friend practiced baking brownies for a fair demonstration and made 80 batches of brownies. She was active all her life in 4-H and was recently inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame.

Louise’s business career began at General Telephone of Grinnell. April 20, 1968, Louise and Roger Van Ersvelde were married at the Grace United Methodist Church in Brooklyn. Following their marriage, Roger was stationed at Offutt Air force Base in Omaha. Louise worked for Northwestern Bell. Following Roger’s discharge from the Air Force, the couple returned to Brooklyn to begin farming. In addition to helping on the farm, Louise worked for Doctor Ferguson in Grinnell, Fullerton Lumber in Brooklyn, Nesselroad Chevrolet for 20+ years, co-owned Ben Franklin store in Brooklyn, and ended her paying career as City Treasurer of Brooklyn for 16 years. She also clerked countless sales for Larry Cline Auctioneering.

She was very active in many volunteer groups and was instrumental in beginning new chapters in several. A recent write up about Louise from the 4-H Hall of Fame stated, “During her many years of service, Louise has volunteered hundreds of hours and provided leadership to the organizations that she was actively involved in”. She was an elected member of Poweshiek County Extension Council 1990-1998. While on the extension council, she was the extension representative on the fair board for 5 years. Other AG Organizations Louise was involved in includes Poweshiek Farm Bureau, Poweshiek County Porkettes, District Seven Porkettes, Iowa State Porkettes, Iowa Pork Producers, Iowa Corn Growers, Poweshiek Corn Growers, Iowa Soybean Association and one of her favorites has been the Farm Safety 4 Just Kids.

Louise had many other interests as well. Some included crafting and being a wedding planner and decorator for several close friends’ weddings. She was also always up for a shopping trip or a quick trip to a casino. Roger and Louise enjoyed trips with friends and trips to Wisconsin to visit their adopted family, Willem and Anke, Anouk and Nora Hartman. She loved taking pictures and would often be seen with her camera in her hand and has been known to stop along the road to take a picture of something that caught her eye. For several years she has designed calendars with her pictures. She loved watching Roger race his drag car.

As a child on the farm helping her dad, she earned the name “Jake”, since there were no boys in her family. She was also called “Runt” by a cousin and “Weesie” by many. She and Roger employed many young high school men to help on the farm. They enjoyed getting to know them and have stayed close to several through the years. She loved helping Tyler Richton Geiger get the “Tyler Richton and the High Bank Boys” off to a good start by providing them with contacts and information for opportunities to play. They played several times out on the farm at the huge get togethers she planned. She loved hearing them play.

Louise was preceded in death by her parents, Emmett and Mary Louise Messer; two sisters, Evelyn and Ardis; her father and mother-in-law, Bruno and Lois Van Ersvelde; sisters-in-law, Martha and Nancy Van Ersvelde; and an adopted grandson, Stijn Hartman; and the “non-family, but dear to my heart” – Patricia Grimm and Doug Grimm.

She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Roger Van Ersvelde; her adopted family of Willem, Anke, Anouk and Nora Hartman; brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Carol Van Ersvelde; sister and brother-in-law, Sara and Dave Henderson; several nieces and nephews and cousins. Also surviving, are the many friends and neighbors she leaves behind.