January 19, 2021 – West Bend, WI – Vernon Van Vooren was born on March 14, 1931 at home on the farm with a midwife in attendance to Mary Elizabeth and Alfred Van Vooren. He was their only child but he grew up in Atkinson, Illinois in the midst of dozens of cousins. He had a pet pig. A cover of an agricultural magazine showed the two of them, fast friends.
His days at Frog Pond School were a breeze. He spent a lot of time reading the one set of encyclopedias when he got his classwork done, and he was the student they sent to the county bees, especially in math.
Those were the days before school bus service in his area so when he entered high school and was too young to legally drive, the family plan that made the most sense to them was to have him live with his mother’s younger sister right in town.
Her husband was stationed away with the army so Vern could help out at her house, do chores, play with her kids and be in all the school’s sports. Soon he was old enough to drive so he bought a second-hand Model A Ford with his savings. Now he could go with the other guys on Saturday nights, taking turns driving to the Big Band concerts all over the Quad Cities’ area. He loved the music and was quite the dancer, especially the jitterbug.
Of course the rest of the week he had jobs to do, chores at home and chores at the neighbor’s farm. He painted lots of picket fences and baled hay for a few years. And this was done before there was mechanized help with the baling. He graduated as valedictorian at Atkinson High School in 1949.
At Western Illinois University where he was a math and physics major he expected to be drafted into the service upon graduation but another opportunity presented itself. He got a direct commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force to become a meteorologist.
He studied at MIT in Boston and spent the next 5 1/2 years in the Air Force, ending up at Truax Air Force Base in Madison. There a job at General Telephone and a chance to play a lot of bridge were great starters. Then he became a stock broker at Merrill Lynch in Milwaukee. Later he started work at B. C. Ziegler in West Bend and retired after 33 years as Senior Vice President and Treasurer in 1996.
He had met Nancy Harte at The Vagabonds Ski Club. They got married in 1962 and then became the parents of two delightful children, son Tim and daughter Tara. His encouragement and pride in them has always been evident. He was in the first group of lectors at mass at St. Frances Cabrini church after Vatican II. He was a lector for 20 years. He felt blessed to have such an idyllic life.
As he grew older a series of health challenges took place. At 60 he was diagnosed with Benign Essential Blepharospasm, a form of dystonia, which causes your eyes to spasm uncontrollably. When your eyes won’t stay open it is very hard to do the type of work he was doing! Or any work.
By this time the government had approved Botox which was a godsend to blephros. Unfortunately, it never worked at all for Vern. It didn’t slow him down but it took all the gumption he could muster to carry on. He was the Wisconsin Blepharospasm chairman for 11 years, played lots of great bridge, played golf at the West Bend Country Club, danced at the West Bend Dance Club and did volunteer work. In 2008 he suffered a major stroke. Through the expert care of Dr. Brian Fred Fitzsimmons who used the Penumbra procedure on him at the Froedtert Hospital Stroke Clinic, he got a second chance at life, which he put to good use.
Such a good man should have a great shot at being ushered into heaven, wouldn’t you think? Didn’t he deserve it? Well, that’s the very best part of the story.
Entrance into heaven is reserved for those who have lived a perfect life, but only Jesus qualifies. All those sacrifices we do in life, when we want to, make us feel good but they never add up to making us perfect. How wonderful that He came down from heaven to become the sacrificial lamb to take away our sins, all the sins of mankind. Jesus, our Savior, did it all. Vern has accepted this free gift from the Son of God. While we miss him so much, already we are joyful for we know that he is now with his Savior. We don’t have to be worried that he didn’t make it to Him. He did.
Vern is survived by his devoted and beloved wife, Nancy; two children, Tim (Laura) Van Vooren; Tara (Scott) Maenner; grandchildren Jack, Katey, Tanner, Lauren, Alissa and Andrew, and bonus grandchildren, Mindy and Jeanette, all in Wisconsin.
In Connecticut Vern is survived by Nancy’s sister, Rita (Bruce) Hulme; her children, Tracy, Alana, Melissa; and grandchildren, Kilian, Michaela, Tighe, Taylor and Siena.
Vern was preceded in death by brother-in-law, Frank Reagan.
Vern and Nancy always made it a priority in life to attend the funerals of their friends, relatives and neighbors, to give their condolences in person to the bereaved and share stories and remembrances of their loved ones. We had hoped our own funerals would be like that but COVID has made that an anathema to us. No way do we want any of you to take the chance of mingling and catching this terrible disease. Please, don’t put yourselves in danger. Vern will be buried with a private family funeral. But we would love to hear from you. Please send correspondence to Myrhum-Patten Funeral Home, 1315 W. Washington Street, West Bend, WI 53095. And if you’d like to join us in helping find a cure for blepharospasm that would be lovely.
A big thank you to Dr. Gajic and his team, especially Gail, and all of you from every walk of life, who have been so loyal and kind to Vern all this time.
Myrhum-Patten Funeral & Cremation Service has been entrusted with Vern’s arrangements. Additional information and guest book may be found at www.myrhum-patten.com.