January 30, 1926 – June 24, 2024

Anna Slegers Zylstra, 98, passsed away June 24, 2024, at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Luverne, Minn. Funeral services were held in Pipestone Christian Reformed Church, Pipestone, Minn., on Saturday, July 6, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. Interment was in  Holland Cemetery, Holland, Minn.

Anna Rena Vander Poel was born on January 30, 1926, to Jacob Bastian and Anna (Offringa) Vander Poel in Osborne Township, Pipestone County, Minnesota. Dr. De Boer drove to the farm with a handmaiden/nurse to assist with the birth. Anna attended country school through the 8th grade. During her childhood years her father, Jacob, dealt with many hardships: horses dying, hogs getting sick and dying, and even Anna’s grandfather becoming ill from this as well. Her father needed help and petitioned for Anna’s brother, Jellas, to stay home from the war but the Draft Board said that having Anna’s mother, Anna, and her sisters at home was plenty of help to keep the farm going. It was decided that Anna would leave home in order for the board to consider allowing Jellas to stay on the farm and help.

Anna moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where her mother’s relatives lived. She worked for Hays Bomb and Shoots which was a parachute factory. On VE Day she was laid off. She was called back after that but did not return. Many service people went home or west, she decided to go home. A short while later the opportunity arose to go with a friend to Denver, Colorado. She worked for a wealthy family for the “lady of the house” as she had broken her hip and needed maid service.

She returned to Minnesota and met Hubert Slegers and the two were united in marriage on September 6, 1949, when he had returned from the war. The two made their home in Lake Benton, Minn., where they raised their four children. Hubert preceded Anna in death in March 1969.

In December of 1983 she was united in marriage to Donald Zylstra and the two lived near Edgerton, Minn., until his death in November of 2019. She returned to Lake Benton, Minn., and lived on the family farm until moving into the Minnesota Veterans Home in Luverne, in January of 2024. She passed away there on Monday, June 24, 2024, at the age of 98 years.

Anna was a member of the Christian Reformed Churches in Holland and Pipestone, Minnesota. She loved gardening, canning, and cooking. She had a passion for sewing, rug making, clothing pattern making, drapery sewing, quilting (blankets for children), crocheting, knitting, and doing other crafts. She also loved to spend time reading. She was a woman who daily devoted her life to being a faithful Christian. When she was complemented on her children’s good characters she would humbly reply, “It’s from their Dad.”

Anna is lovingly remembered by her children, Gerrit (Tamara) Slegers of Lake Benton, Karen (Danny) Moore of Clarksville, Tennessee, Hubert (Angela) Slegers of Hilmar, California, and Ardyth Little of Turlock, California; seven grandchildren, Gerrit III, Shaun and Nathan Slegers, Jason Moore, Janet Davenport, Jessi Daniels, and Amy Mancebo; 13 great-grandchildren; and one brother, Roger (Ruth) Vander Poel of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She was preceded in death by her two husbands, Hubert Slegers and Donald Zylstra; her parents, Jacob and Anna Vander Poel; and two grandsons: Darrick and Jerry Moore.