Sara Mae Van Maaren was the ninth of ten children born to Gerrit Cornelius and Sarah Boender Van Maaren. She was born September 4, 1935, at Newton, Iowa. Sara Mae attended country grade school and later graduated from Pella High School in 1954. She worked for Rolscreen Company from 1953 and retired in 1990. Sara Mae worked in variety of positions, but spent a majority of her years as a secretary to the sales and marketing departments. After retirement Sara Mae enjoyed working around her home and visiting her extended family. She passed away unexpectedly at her home on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at the age of 72 years, six months and 18 days. Those who will cherish her memory are her sisters: Hilda (Arthur) Rus, Beulah and her husband Don Van Haalen, both of Pella; and her brother, Alfred Van Maaren and his wife, Carolyn of Pella, along with a host of special nieces and nephews, who called her "Aunt Mae". Of her original family Sara Mae leaves her sister-in-law, Nellie (Cornelius) Van Maaren of Denver, CO, and a brother-in-law, Henry Dykstra of Monroe, Iowa. Sara Mae was preceded in death by her parents, five brothers- Cornelius, Paul, John, Gerald and Elmer Van Maaren and her sister, Esther Dykstra. She was baptized in the First Reformed Church of Sully, former member of Third Reformed Church and was currently a member of the Trinity Reformed Church in Pella. Sara Mae was a private and independent woman. She faithfully visited her family and expected them to do the same every other Sunday, where she served them coffee time at her home. She liked to do her own yardwork and garden. Her family will remember the loaves of raisin bread that she made each Easter, a family tradition started by her own mother many years ago. Although slight in stature, "Aunt Mae" left a large impression on her family with the love she had shown them.


For those desiring memorials may be given for the Trinity Reformed Church.

Van Dyk - Duven Funeral Home