Rose Oele

Rose Oele was a wonderful woman, who lived a good, Christian life, a life filled with so many blessings. Rose was a hardworking, caring woman, who devoted her life to her family, her faith, and her many friends she made along the way. She was blessed with many things, just as we were so blessed to have known her.

Rose’s story began on a cold winter day in 1920, as the snow fell on the beautiful beachfront town of Grand Haven, Michigan. Those were exciting times in this country, the dawn of the Roaring 20s, when women finally won their right to vote, and Prohibition was the law of the land. On February 24, 1920, John and Anna Dusnick celebrated the birth of a beautiful baby girl, a daughter they named Rose.

Rose was one of the middle kids in a home full of six children in Grand Haven. Grand Haven was a wonderful place to grow up, and Rose’s childhood was filled with sunny summer days spent at the beach.

Rose attended Grand Haven Schools, and graduated from Grand Haven High School in 1938. Diploma in hand, Rose found work at a local bakery, where she met a handsome young man named Adrian Oele. Adrian was six years Rose’s senior, but sparks flew between them. They began dating, and it wasn’t long before the happy young couple was married, on November 9, 1940, beginning a wonderful life together.

The newlyweds soon became parents, as well, with their daughter Loretta born in 1941. Soon the happy family would be separated by the darkening skies of World War II, however. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the brave Adrian enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 22, 1942, ready to do his part.

When Adrian returned from the war, the family moved to Grand Rapids, where Rose lived the rest of her days. She was a wonderful wife and mother, who also worked outside the home most of her life to help make ends meet.

As hard as she worked, her family and her faith were always first in her life. She and Adrian were longtime members of the Bethel Reformed Church, where she was very active. Rose was also a wonderful caregiver, and cared for many members of her family over the years, from her sisters, to her beautiful twin grandsons when they were newborns. Rose especially loved becoming a grandmother, and thought the world of all her grandkids.

Later in life, Rose developed Alzheimer’s, and moved to the Christian Rest Home. Sadly, Rose went home to be with her Lord on October 12, 2007, at the age of 87.

Rose was such a wonderful woman, a selfless, sweet lady, who lived a wonderful life, as a mother, grandmother, friend and wife. Rose was a good, Christian woman, who was blessed with so much, just as we were so blessed to have known her. She will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her husband, Adrian; her daughter, Loretta Visser and fiancé Curtis Vrieland; her grandchildren James and Amanda Visser, John and Lyndsay Visser; great grandchildren Michael Segard, Shandi and Grace Visser; her sister, Florence Pofahl and several nieces and nephews. The funeral service for Rose will be held on Saturday, October 13 at 2 PM at Heritage Life Story Funeral Home - Van’t Hof Chapel, 851 Leonard NW where friends may visit with her family from 1 PM until the time of the service. Interment in Washington Park Memorial Gardens. For those who wish, memorial contributions to the Christian Rest Home are appreciated. To share a favorite memory, please visit www.lifestorynet.com