Jacqueline Jean Ver Straten

Jacqueline Jean Ver Straten was born in a small farmhouse surrounded by potato fields in the western panhandle of Nebraska. Her birth was a difficult one and her mother, who was very small, had many problems giving birth to her firstborn. This delivery resulted in permanent damage to Jacque's left shoulder and arm.
When Jacque was less than three years old, her mother left the family. Her father brought her and her baby sister to live with his mother who still had seven children living at home. Jacque had fond memories of Grandma Grace and recalled feeling a sense of love in her life for the first time. Then, when she was ten years of age, her father remarried a stern, spinster schoolteacher, named Betty. When they married, Betty told her, "I'll take care of you, but I will never love you". It was clear that Betty disliked Jacque and took every opportunity to "discipline" her severely. The home was an unhappy home and her parents looked down on anything religious.
Jacque attended Huntley High School and was involved in many different activities including 4H, cheerleading, class officer, choir, prom queen, Job's daughters, and others. Yet something was missing. She would climb the windmill, look out over the empty Wyoming landscape, and wonder if that would define her life. The Gideons distributed Bibles at her school and as she got on the bus one handed her a New Testament. Reading it in the dark of her room with a flashlight, she met Jesus. In the morning Betty discovered the bible and threw it in the trash. Jacque grabbed her ankles, looked up, and said "Jesus forgives you!" Betty never touched her again.
Jacque had many friends and one girl she befriended in 4H, was Bertha Ver Staten. Bertha contacted her one day and asked her if she would like to go to the Christmas dance with her brother who was coming home from college. Jacque would always say that when she met Charles Ver Straten and Jesus, her life changed forever.
After high school graduation, Jacque attended Torrington Junior College. She received her teaching certificate and taught elementary education for a year after she and Charles were married. Jacque and Charles, or "Chuck" as she renamed him were married on March 25, 1951, and soon moved to a family homestead that Chuck inherited. It was during this time that both Chuck and Jacque felt the Lord calling them into full-time Christian ministry. After the birth of their first child, Deborah, they decided to sell everything and move to Los Angeles so Chuck could attend Fuller Seminary. The families disapproved, but ultimately Chuck's family became devoted followers of Jesus.
Seminary years were hard ones for this young couple from rural Wyoming. Jacque struggled to adjust to such a different way of life. While enduring the absence of her husband who was going to school full time and holding down two jobs, she gave birth to Rebecca, studied child development in college, and worked at a preschool After three difficult years in seminary, Chuck received a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained in 1956.
Chuck and Jacque were called to pastor three different churches in Nebraska, during this period Catherine and Cynthia were born. It was at this time that Jacque sensed her calling to the children's ministry and later to the women's ministry.
In 1970 the Ver Stratens moved to Littleton Colorado where Chuck became the senior pastor of Mission Hills Baptist church. Jacque continued to develop her gifts of mentoring and women's ministry. Their ministries flourished and their home became a haven for countless gatherings and dinners.
In 1982 Chuck felt called to a church that was struggling in Mount Vernon, Washington. Jacque had to say "Goodbye" to the ministries she loved as well as three of her grandchildren. While the years in Mount Vernon were trying years, Jacque continued to mentor and minister to women in the community.
In 1987, the couple moved back to Colorado, first pastoring Bethel Baptist Church in Greeley and then moving to Centennial to rejoin the pastoral staff and Mission Hills Baptist Church. Jacque threw herself into women's ministry and developed a women's mentoring program. She also developed international women's ministries and went on several mission trips sharing her message of God's sovereignty, redemption, and forgiveness. These trips included Mexico, Ethiopia, Poland, Argentina, England, Malawi, China, Spain, and other ministry trips.
Her beloved Chuck passed away in 2005 from cancer and this was a painful period of adjustment for Jacque. However, she decided to move to Windcrest Senior Living and became involved in many aspects of senior life there including an active leadership role in the Evangelical Senior Ministries. She lived at Windcrest for over twelve years.
Jacque is survived by her four daughters, Deborah, Rebecca, Catherine, and Cynthia, and spouses, nine grandchildren, and eighteen+ great-grandchildren. She was an amazing mother and grandma. Her legacy of prayer and message of redemption and forgiveness continues to live on in her children, grandchildren, and the many lives she touched on this earth.
A memorial service for Jacqueline will be held Thursday, April 20, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. at Mission Hills Church, 620 Southpark Dr., Littleton, CO 80120.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.olingerchapelhill.com for the Ver Straten family.