Mrs. Elaine Ter Beest, age 84, of Orange City, Iowa, went to be with her Lord on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, at the Orange City Area Health System Hospital.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, April 25, at 11:30am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Dr. Perry De Groot will officiate. Interment will be prior to the service at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a prayer service on Saturday, at 10:30am, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Visitation will be after 4:00pm on Friday, with the family present from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at the funeral home.

Elaine was born on February 24, 1925, in Holland, Michigan. She was the daughter of John H. and Louise (Ver Schure) Beltman. She lived in Holland, where she attended the Christian elementary and high schools. Elaine graduated with a degree in elementary education from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She taught elementary grades in schools in Kalamazoo and Holland, Michigan, and Hull, Iowa.

On June 16, 1950, Elaine married the Rev. David C. Ter Beest in Holland. In addition to being a Mom, homemaker, and teacher, she served with Dave as a faithful partner in his pastoral ministry at the Standale Reformed Church in Grand Rapids; the Westwood Reformed Church in Muskegon, Michigan; the First Reformed Church in Hull; and the Faith Reformed Church in South Holland, Illinois. They retired in July of 1992 and moved to Orange City, Iowa, where they remained active in the ministry of the First Reformed Church.

On March 4 of this year, Elaine moved to the Lyon Manor in Rock Rapids, Iowa; and on April 7, she transferred to the Orange City Area Health System Long Term Care Facility.

She was currently a member of the First Reformed Church in Orange City, where she belonged to the Ruth Circle and sang in the sanctuary choir. In all the churches they served, she was very active in the Women's Ministries and directed the adult choirs in Muskegon and Hull.

Elaine had a passion for music, especially singing, and she also enjoyed sewing, reading, and traveling.

Survivors include Dave, her husband of more than 58 years; five children, Jim Ter Beest and his wife Rachel (Kraai) of Omaha, Nebraska, Mary Steinbeck and her husband John of Hartley, Iowa, Anne Plageman and her partner Mark Slemp of Maurice. Iowa, John Ter Beest of Rapid City, South Dakota, and Ruth Vander Lee and her husband Rollie of Rock Rapids; eight grandchildren, Sara Steinbeck, Drew Steinbeck, Laura Strubbe and her husband Ezra, Nathan Ter Beest and his wife Belinda, Gabe Plageman and his wife Tiffany, Emily Rockhill and her husband Danny, Tom Vander Lee and his fiancé Kayla Bos, and Sooner Plageman; two great-grandchildren, Victoria and Carter Strubbe; three brothers and their wives, Henry and Marian Beltman of Grand Rapids, and Frank and Judy Beltman and Kenneth and Diana Beltman, all of Holland, and a brother-in-law, Dayton Ter Beest, of Brandon, Wisconsin.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a son-in-law, Robert Plageman; and a grandson, Jason Steinbeck.

Memorials may be directed to the organ fund of the First Reformed Church in Orange City.