Obituaries : Velma Van Scoy

Velma Van Scoy, 87, of Winterset, passed away, Saturday, May 29, 2021, at the Madison County Memorial Hospital in Winterset.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, June 3, 2021, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Winterset. A private family funeral service will be held on Friday. Burial will take place in the Winterset Cemetery.

Velma Elizabeth Katherine Schminke was born November 22, 1933, in Benton County, Iowa. She was a third child of five born to Roy and Martha (Bierschenk) Schminke. She was raised on a farm and enjoyed riding her horse, Dandy, to country school each day. Velma met the love of her life at a skating rink in 1953. When Robert Van Scoy literally ran into her knocking her down at the Vinton, Iowa skating rink, "SkateMore." Bob immediately skated over to a friend and stated, "That's the girl I'm going to marry." Velma and Robert were married on Father's Day, June 20, 1954, in Newhall, Iowa. They were blessed with three children, RoxAnn, Christine, and Rich.

Together they started farming, later after much deliberation, Bob began working for Fareway. Velma lovingly and eagerly followed him from town to town, making each move an adventure instead of chaos. Velma excelled in art which showed through her early paintings, and later on through her beautiful quilts. Velma was a charter member of the Heritage Quilters, Covered Bridge Quilters, who donated over 10,000 baby quilts to Mercy Children's Hospital and clinic; NICU in Des Moines. She is also a member of the St Paul Lutheran Quilters, the "Comforters". During this time of doing her beautiful hand quilted and hand-pieced quilts, she began making Quilts of Valor. She proudly made ten, one for every veteran member of her family, along with many Quilts of Valor for others throughout the county. She also enjoyed taking her quilts to the Iowa State Fair, earning many ribbons through the years.

Velma enjoyed volunteering and spending time with people and helping out wherever she could. Delivering Meals on Wheels, designing Covered Bridge sacks for Fareway, and enjoying coffee with the Hardee's, Montross, and library groups. She also served on the Winterset Art Center Board.

Those left to cherish her memories are her loving husband Robert, children RoxAnn (Jim) Rhoads of Peru, Christine (Mark) Clark of Arizona, and Rich (Patty) Van Scoy of Urbandale; grandchildren, Megan Rhoads of Winterset, Michael (Jenny) Rhoads of Peru, Morgan Van Scoy (Scott Borenstien) of Las Vegas, Nevada, Marcus VanScoy of Colfax, and Jordan VanScoy of West DesMoines; step-grandchildren, Rachel (Austin) Cooper of Tucson, Arizona, and Leah Clark of Scottsdale, Arizona; great-grandchildren, Haleigh and Kayci Rhoads, Henry Borenstein; step-great-grandchildren, Kyah and Kingsley Cooper; sister, Gladys (Sonny) Hagen; brother, Virgil (Sharon) Schminke; and sister-in-law, Adah Schminke, along with many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Martha (Bierschenk) Schminke; older brothers, Glen and Gerald Schminke; sister-in-law, Lita Schminke; nephew Craig Schmink; granddaughter, Elyse VanScoy Greenwood; and step-grandson Timothy Clark.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Iowa Quilt Museum in Winterset in memory of Velma.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.caldwellparrish.com on Velma's Tribute Wall.