Elizabeth Rose Boven

Elizabeth Rose Dimberg Boven Born Dec. 27, 1929, the 5th child of Gertrude Anderson Dimberg and Paul Carl Dimberg of Wauwatosa (Milwaukee) Wisconsin, Elizabeth (Libby) died Sunday, October 7, 2018 at the Inn at Freedom Village. After high school in Wauwatosa, Libby completed registered nurse's training at Wesley Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University in Chicago where she met her spouse Dr. Ronald Boven (deceased), a dental student at Loyola University. The Bovens were married in 1951 and Libby continued nursing in the OR at Wesley Memorial until Ron's completion of dental school in1954. The Bovens were stationed in Omaha, Nebraska at SAC Command for two years in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict. After the service, the Bovens moved to Iowa City, Iowa where Ron completed his orthodontic specialty training. In 1958, the Bovens returned to Holland with their four children and Ron started his orthodontic practice, the first in Holland. During the years they were raising their children in Holland, Libby volunteered as a Sunday school teacher in the kindergarten class at Third Reformed Church, and as a garden therapist in the Garden Therapy Program that served the Special Education students in the Holland Public Schools. She was recognizable as the lady with 150 pumpkins in the back seat of her Nash Rambler ready for decorating. When Third Reformed Church opened their Day Care Center, Libby volunteered her services as both nurse and classroom aide. Every summer, Libby served a week as the nurse on site at the Holland Migrant Center where her children learned compassion and gratitude while feeding, changing, reading and playing with migrant children. Libby also volunteered her time as a nurse at the Blood Bank and room mother for our classrooms. In 1968, Libby returned to St Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids to update her nursing credential. As an empty nester, Libby returned to nursing at Meadowbrook, now Rest Haven. In addition, she took the training to become a Stephen Minister through Third Reformed Church where she was commissioned to offer one on one care to hurting individuals; Libby served several terms as a deacon there as well. Though no baker, she turned out dozens of cakes for Hope College students and delivered them to every dorm and cottage on campus. Libby was an active member of the Holland Hospital Auxiliary Program that raised funds from baby pictures for nursing scholarships for local students. She served the Holland Garden Club in numerous capacities including the executive board for 41 years. "Grandma Libby" was a doting grandma who enjoyed picking out clothes and dolls for Christmas or birthday presents, and decorating Christmas trees, Easter baskets and perennial gardens. Following retirement, Libby served meals to the homeless at Western Seminary, and drove many individuals to appointments for the Good Samaritan Center. Although some of these clients were pretty questionable characters and these trips proved to be adventures, Libby was undeterred in her activism. She also drove elderly women to Circle and served countless meals at Third Church for weddings and funerals. For all her volunteer service, Libby was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Holland Rotary Club. We considered her a professional volunteer. She had a heart for the very young and the very old. In her spare time Libby enjoyed playing bridge with her Bridge Group, dining out at the Holland Country Club with friends, canoeing on the Pere Marquette River with the Forks Group and walking the beach, dunes and woods near their lake home. Libby and Ron were members of the Holland Historical Foundation, the Holland Academy of Senior Professionals (HASP) and the Second Century Club at Hope. Libby is survived by her children Lynda (and Steve) Farrar of Stockton CA, Sharon (and Dr. Stephen) Carter of Brook Haven GA, Margery Wirth (and Norman Jefferson) of Hoover AL, Peter R. Boven (and Rene') of Stone Mountain GA, her sister Carolyn Dimberg Rice of Navarre, FL, nephew David Boven (Heide) of N. Muskegon, niece Jean Boven Norden of Dublin OH, sister-in-law Phyllis Agnew of Vero Beach FL, fifteen grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. Her husband, Ronald Jay, died in 2000. Ronald and Elizabeth Boven have endowed scholarships at Hope College, Western Theological Seminary and the Holland Community Foundation. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Libby's honor can be made to Third Reformed Church or any of the organizations mentioned above. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Third Reformed Church, 111 West 13th Street, Holland with at time of visitation one hour prior to the service.

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Elizabeth Rose Boven

December 27, 1929 - October 7, 2018