Mary Lou Meester

Mary Lou Meester, 81, of Holland, Iowa. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 18, 2022 at Abels Funeral and Cremation Service, Engelkes Chapel, in Grundy Center, Iowa. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at the Pleasant Valley Reformed Church in Rural Holland, Iowa. There will be a brief reception after the funeral service, and then burial at Rose Hill Cemetery in Grundy Center, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to the Lake View Camp in Pella, Iowa. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.abelsfuneralhomes.com

Mary Lou was born the daughter of David and Minnie Arends on September 19, 1940 in Sioux City, Iowa.  She graduated from Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg, Iowa.

Mary Lou met the love of her life, Don Meester, while working for VanEman and Mulder attorneys in Parkersburg.  On September 21, 1962 the couple were united in marriage at First Congregational Church in Parkersburg, where she served as pianist and organist for many years.  She and Don made their home on Dutch Valley Farms in rural Holland, Iowa. It had been Mary Lou’s childhood dream to live on a farm. There they raised three children, Donna, Jon and Evan in what she considered a fairytale life.  When Mary Lou fell ill she and Don moved to Omaha, Nebraska. 

Mary Lou was a member of Pleasant Valley Reformed Church in rural Holland.  She had a great love for music and could recite lyrics from almost any hymn, popular song or nursery rhyme.  She had a great eye for style and loved shopping for clothing, jewelry and home décor.  She was also a very talented seamstress. Mary Lou had an extensive antique doll collection for many years. She restored and dressed dolls both for herself and many others.  Because of her daughter’s affiliation with The University of Alabama, she and Don spent many winters in Tuscaloosa and became a huge Alabama football fan.  She enjoyed the many car trips the family took and in later years with Don, having visited almost every state in the union, as well as Caribbean cruises with family. In her later years, Mary Lou became an avid fan of Search-A Word and was very good at it!  Nana Lou treasured visits and playing games with her grandchildren, Blake and Bailey.

Sunday evening, February, 6, 2020, Mary Lou passed away at Josie Harper Hospice House in Omaha, Nebraska of natural causes.  She was preceded in death by her parents and one sister, Norma Faris and niece, Janet Heggebo.

Mary Lou is survived by her husband, Don, of Elkhorn, Nebraska; daughter, Donna Meester of Tuscaloosa, Alabama;  son, Jon Meester of Davenport Iowa;  son, Evan Meester (Jessica) of Omaha, Nebraska and two grandchildren, Blake and Bailey Meester of Omaha, Nebraska;  nephew, David Faris of Cedar Falls, Iowa and niece, Cyndii Faris, Rochester, Minnesota.