Vivian Glendening

  Vivian Marie (De Heus) Glendening, was born July 31, 1938 to Mildred and Arie De Heus. Her mother was a homemaker and her father worked at the overall factory in Pella.  Sadly, her father was lost to cancer when Vivian was just 11 years old.  Her older brother Marvin left for the Navy, so Vivian and her mother lived in the small brick house on 3rd Street in Pella throughout her formative years.  She loved gymnastics and often “bragged” about her flexibility.  As a teenager she worked at the local theater and walked from home to work and school, as there was no family car.

   December 21, 1956, Vivian married Brandt Edwin Van Maanen.  She had sewn her own dress and veil for the big day and settled for chrysanthemums for wedding flowers, as roses were all in California for the New Year’s Rose Parade.  She disliked mums the rest of her life!

   Vivian and Brandt made their home near Leighton, Iowa, first just south of town, moving to an acreage north of town as the family grew. 

   Between September, 1959 and April, 1972, they welcomed eight boys into their world, and ours.  She loved her hard-working boys, and dressed them in a variety of matching outfits.   From seersucker jackets to t-shirts, she proudly sewed many a shirt for them! And over the years they even shared matching haircuts. Along with sewing she helped with chores and livestock, sometimes warming baby lambs in her kitchen oven.  She was secretary for the growing seed and chemical business and kept the house stocked with groceries and clean clothes.  Piles of socks were often found on the couch, because there were too many to sort!

   In 1985 Vivian moved to Pella and started a new career at Christian Opportunity Center (COC).  As a job coach for the intellectually challenged, Vivian found a new passion and discovered new talents in herself.  She eventually left COC to start her own business as a job coach.  She worked diligently as an advocate for her clients, and although humble herself, she was so proud of their individual accomplishments.  She stayed with this work until she fully retired.

   During this time, she met and married Bob Glendening.  “Young and in love”, they eloped in early 1993, but celebrated with family and friends on May 31 of that year.  They stayed in Pella enjoying life together.  They traveled to visit family in Texas, Colorado, California and across Iowa, but were most content at home.      Grandchildren had entered both their lives, so their house was often busy and full of life.

   Sewing and painting continued to be ever present hobbies. You could count on a painted pumpkin in October, an embroidered bib for the new baby or a full-on Bob Ross oil scene.   And no holiday was complete without her pigs-in-a-blanket, almond butter cakes, and pecan tassies. Baking, cooking, (yes, she won first prize in the Vriendschap Village Chili Cook-Off), and crafting remained standards throughout her life. Bird watching became the new passion, and Vivian wanted bird feeders to tend to and watch for the rest of her life.

   After Bob passed away in 2010, Vivian continued to do some traveling. There was a fateful fall in Colorado in 2016 that forced her from her home and into assisted living at Vriendschap Village in Pella.  However, healing and time brought back some independence and she enjoyed her life there until another fall required her to move into a facility that could provide more hands-on care in 2020.  From Northern Mahaska Specialty Care in Oskaloosa, she gratefully moved back to Pella and into The Cottages in September of 2022, and there lived out her last days.

   Vivian was preceded in death by her parents, Mildred (Clark) De Heus and Arie De Heus, her husbands, Brandt Van Maanen and Bob Glendening, and her eldest son, Curt Van Maanen.

   She is survived by her brother, Marvin (Barbara) De Heus from California.  Daughter-in-law Cathy Van Maanen (Curt). Her sons and their spouses; Tim (Lucia) Van Maanen, Sam (Lisa) Van Maanen, Russ (Amy) Van Maanen, Ben (Sunny) Van Maanen, Marty (Julie) Van Maanen, Andrew (Shelia) Van Maanen, Matthew (Rob) Van Maanen.  Step-daughters Marjorie Moore and Martha Knickerbocker, and their families.

   Her beloved grandchildren; Alexander Van Maanen, Erica Trusty, Anna (Tony) Van Maanen, Jesse (Jenna) Van Maanen, Keegan Van Maanen, Tanner (Jora) Van Maanen, Haylie (Mark) Van Maanen, Noah Van Maanen.  Sarah (Jay) Morales, Aaron (Jamie) Van Maanen, Ryan Van Maanen, Maxwell Van Maanen, Mollie Van Maanen, Shelby Van Maanen, Peyton Van Maanen, Seth Van Maanen, Preston (Ashley) Carda, Drew Van Maanen, Rhiley Van Maanen.  

   The next generation is just beginning with 13 great-grandchildren that will know her through pictures, stories and the many memories of her children and grandchildren.  Each one must learn to bake a Dutch almond butter cake…..her sweetest legacy!

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