Mrs. Frances Kohl, age 95, of Orange City, passed away on Tuesday, March 31, 2009, at the Orange City Area Health System Long Term Care Facility.

There will be a funeral service on Monday, April 6, at 2:00pm, at the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Jonathan Opgenorth will officiate. Interment will follow at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City.

Due to the forecast of inclement weather, visitation with the family has been changed to Monday, from 10:00am to 11:30am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Frances was born on January 31, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Peter and Nellie (Kooistra) Van Rosendale. She was raised in Chicago, where her family was members of the First Reformed Church of Roseland and the children attended the Roseland Christian School. Each of the children learned to play a musical instrument, with her playing the violin. She continued her studies, culminating in a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Certified to teach, Miss Van Rosendale began her teaching career with a third grade class at the Roseland Christian School. She always prepared her lessons thoroughly, making every effort to reach each child. At church, she taught children's Sunday school in the same way and also sang in the church choir and was frequently asked to play her violin.

After ten years of teaching elementary school, Frances moved to the Chicago Christian High School, where she taught mathematics. By taking courses in summers and evenings, she earned a master's degree at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. At church, she now led adult women's Bible studies, which provided strong leadership for church work. During World War II, they started the church's News Review, a newsletter designed to keep in touch with members in the armed services. Later, they established the library, which continues to be a valuable asset.

On August 14, 1953, she married William A. Kohl in Chicago. Except for four years in Crete, Illinois, they made their home in Chicago, where they held Bible classes for children in the neighborhood, which was racially changing from white to black.

After their daughter, Katherine, was born, Mrs. Kohl resigned from teaching school, which gave her more time to devote to church work. She became active in Reformed Church Women and served as president of both the local guild and the Chicago Women's Classical Union. She exhibited much zeal and enthusiasm, especially promoting missions everywhere. With her violin, she also provided inspiration and entertainment at city missions, Seaman's Mission, and Oak Forest Hospital.

When Bill retired, the couple moved to Orange City, where their daughter had settled after attending Northwestern College and getting married. They joined the Trinity Reformed Church, which had a strong R. C. W. program with excellent leadership. They also became part of the community and it's musical culture, including orchestras, bands, and choirs.

Immediately, Frances was in demand as a violin teacher and soon she was teaching thirty to forty students a week. Dordt College in Sioux Center and Northwestern College also used her skills in their string departments. Blessed with good health, at the age of eighty, she was still teaching violin and playing in the local orchestra. In her music room was a plaque from the Sioux County Orchestra which was awarded “to Frances Van Rosendale Kohl for teaching excellence, enthusiastic support of the orchestra, and outstanding musical leadership.”

In 2004, Mr. and Mrs. Kohl became residents of the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community in Orange City, and in May of 2007, she transferred to the Long Term Care Facility. Besides the violin, she enjoyed sewing and reading, and she and her husband traveled extensively, including to Europe.

Survivors include her husband of more than 55 years; a daughter and her husband, Kathy and Gary Davis, of Sioux City; four grandchildren, Shannon De Jong, and her husband, Anthony Puglisi, of Jersey City, New Jersey; Tom A. De Jong, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Melanie De Jong, of Los Angeles, California; and Amy De Jong, of New York City, New York; two sisters-in-law, Alice Van Rosendale, of South Holland, Illinois; and Lois Sapinski, of Brookfield, Illinois; and several nephews and nieces.

She was preceded in death by two brothers and two sisters, Beatrice Van Eck, Ernest Van Rosendale, Samuel Van Rosendale, and Maaike Spyksma.