Arendina Van Hulten

Our beloved mother, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother, neighbor, and friend passed away peacefully in her sleep early in the morning on June 10, 2013. Arendina was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on March 23, 1917 along with her twin brother to Theodorus and Alegonda Geels. As a youth in the Netherlands she loved to sing and dance and often attended youth dances, which led her to her eternal companion Gerardus J. Van Hulten Sr. Arendina and Gerardus were married in The Netherlands on August 26, 1936. A few years after their marriage, the outbreak of WWII would reshape the lives they had begun to build together. Arendina had one son, Leen, when the Nazi forces invaded The Netherlands in 1940, utilizing the Luftwaffe and a devastating air raid on her city of Rotterdam. Surviving the initial occupation battle, Arendina and her husband would spend the next few years ensuring their family’s survival as well as adding to it. A year before D-Day, June 6, 1943, Arendina gave birth to her second son, Gerardus Jr. Shortly after the war ended Arendina would give birth to her only daughter, Alegonda.
In 1950, Arendina would pack all she could in one trunk and take her young family across the Atlantic to start a new life in America. After landing on Ellis Island, she boarded a Greyhound bus for Salt Lake City, Utah, arriving on July 24th. She and her husband were sealed for eternity in the Salt Lake Temple two years later on August 26, 1952. Arendina soon took up a professional seamstress position and worked in her position for over 30 years.
Arendina was a strong willed and spirited soul who loved to defy any and all boundaries. In her early 50s, having never learned to swim, Arendina took swimming lessons at the local YMCA. After learning how to swim, she set out to take her newfound skills to the next level: learning how to water-ski. She mastered this goal as well and continued to water-ski well into her late 60s. As Arendina approached her mid 60s the desire to give back to her faith sent her, along with her husband, back home to The Netherlands to serve an LDS mission. After her mission she would spend the next 14 years working in the Salt Lake Temple alongside the love of her life. In 2006 she celebrated 70 years of marriage together before losing her husband 8 months later. In her later years Arendina was an avid crotchetier and knitter, a skill she learned early on in her life. You couldn’t know Arendina without receiving an afghan, baby blanket, or hand knitted baby clothes. She also took up ceramic making in her mid 80s. It can truly be said that she lived everyday out loud until the very end. By the end of her life she would have 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren.
Arendina is survived by her son Leen, daughter Gonnie (Alegonda) Buell (Don Buell), daughter-in-law Pearl, Sister Dora (The Netherlands), sister-in-law Truus Allart, brother-in-law Dirk Van Leer, and her grand and great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Gerardus Sr., her son Gerardus Jr., daughter-in-law Mary Lynn (Leen Van Hulten), her mother, father, brothers, and sisters.
Funeral Services will be held Friday June 14, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the Orchard 10th Ward Building, 3317 South 800 West, North Salt Lake, Utah. A viewing will be held on Thursday June 13 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Russon Brother’s Mortuary 295 North Main Street Bountiful, Utah and on Friday June 14 at the Orchard 10th Ward Building prior to the funeral services, 9:30-10:45 a.m. Interment at Lakeview Cemetery, Bountiful Utah.