March 28, 2024

William DeJong

William DeJong, 99, of Newton died on Feb. 1, 2013, at the Skiff Medical Center in Newton.

A funeral service will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the United Presbyterian Church, in Newton, with Rev. Don Freeman officiating. Burial will be at the Newton Union Cemetery in Newton. The family will greet friends from 6 to 7 p.m., today, Feb. 4, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton.

Memorials to the United Presbyterian Church may be left at the church at the time of the service or they also may be left at the Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton.

The son of Peter and Adrianna (Dieleman) DeJong, he was born on Dec. 20, 1913, in rural Jasper County near Lynnville. He graduated from Pella High School in 1934 and from Central College in 1938 majoring in chemistry with a bachelor of arts degree in education.

He married Henrietta L. Hoksbergen on June 1, 1939.

They moved to Magnolia, Iowa where William taught physics and math for two years and then moved to Pocahontas for a year. In 1942, they moved to Newton where William taught chemistry and physics. While teaching he took graduate courses in biochemistry at the University of Iowa.

William became a member of the United Presbyterian Church in 1943 serving as elder and teaching Sunday school for a number of years. He also served on the Finance Committee during the building of the present church.

In 1944, he joined Maytag Research and Development as an Organic Chemist in the field of fats and oils and coauthored articles printed in two chemical journals.

In 1951, he joined the Newton Manufacturing Company as a sales promotion manager becoming President and CEO in 1968. William was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Advertising Specialty Association and served as Chairman of the Distributors Group.

William is survived by his two sons, Phil (Jeanne) DeJong, and Steve DeJong; five grandchildren, Elizabeth DeJong, Michael DeJong, Andrew (Jennifer) DeJong, Joseph (Kari) DeJong, and Aaron (Maria) DeJong,; and his four great-grandchildren, Will, Cale, Zoey and Graham.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 72 years, Henrietta, on June 20, 2011.