Peter Johannes deGier, 79
Peter Johannes deGier, 79, of Strawberry Point, died on Friday, July 23, 2010, at the Oelwein Heath Care Center in Oelwein.
A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 28, at Leonard-Muller Funeral Home in Strawberry Point, with Pastor Mike Jackson officiating.
Visitation was held 5-8 p.m., Tuesday, July 27, at Leonard-Muller Funeral Home in Strawberry Point, and also for one hour prior to services on Wednesday at the funeral home.
Inurnment will be held at a later date.
He was born on November 20, 1930, at Lopik, The Netherlands, the son of Gerrit Teunis and Hendrika Jannigje (deWith) deGier. Peter was educated in The Netherlands and worked as a farm laborer for area farmers.
At the age of 18 he moved to Canada and worked as a laborer on farms, in construction, and at a car dealership. As he applied his trade as a relief milker, he learned to clip and groom dairy cattle and became a professional cattle fitter, working with some of the top herds in Canada and the United States. He was especially proud of the herdsmanship awards he won at the Royal Winter Fair in Canada, the International Dairy Show in Chicago, the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, the Indiana State Fair, and the All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Peter was united in marriage to Heidi Ann Mills on October 19, 1979, in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. They settled in Wisconsin for four years and relocated to Heidi's home farm in 1983. Together they owned and operated their own dairy herd of registered Holsteins and Brown Swiss under the Boot-Hill prefix from 1981-1997.
Peter loved to collect caps and enjoyed hummingbirds.
Survivors include his wife, Heidi Ann deGier of Strawberry Point; one brother, Dirk (Alie) deGier of Holland; seven sisters, Corrie VanVurren of Holland, Hendrika Los of Ontario, Canada, Janny (Pieter) VanGerrevink, of Perth, Austrailia, and Pie VanStam, Janny Gerssen, Gea Grazenbeek, and Marrie Osefius, all of Holland; his father-in-law, Paul (Judy) Mills, of Nauvoo, Illinois; four sisters-in-law, Marike deGier of Nova Scotia, Canada, Robin (Roger) Baker of Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, Karen (Alan) Schantz of Strawberry Point, and Linda (Scott) Palzkill of Linden, Wisconsin; two brothers-in-law, Erwin (Debra) Mills of Waterloo and Jay (Cathy) Mills of Strawberry Point; and many nieces and nephews.
Peter was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Hendrika Aarnoudse and Wynje VanEck; two brothers, Gerrit deGier and Jan deGier; three siblings in infancy; his mother-in-law, Margarete Mills; eight brothers-in-law; and one sister-in-law.
Posted on July 28, 2010
