Mary Madeline Merritt Zuurbier

Zuurbier Mary Madeline Merritt Zuurbier died suddenly on Dec. 18, 2012. She was 81. Madeline was born in Guthrie, Ky. on June 25, 1931, to Ethel Felts and Oscar E. "Shorty" Merritt. When her mother died of tuberculosis she was just seven years old, and was sent to live with an aunt for one year before being sent to an orphanage in Franklin, Tenn., where she lived until age 12. Records from the orphanage describe a thin, malnourished child with chronic tonsil infections. When her father remarried, she returned to Guthrie and graduated from high school at the top of her class of twelve students. She borrowed money from her aunt in order to attend Nursing School at Louisville General Hospital, and graduated with her RN degree. She worked at Jennie Stuart Hospital in Hopkinsville, Ky., as a new nursing graduate. She went to work at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., for a short time, but often returned home to Guthrie. Her best friend introduced her to a young U.S. Air Force lieutenant from Chicago, George Zuurbier, who was stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. After eight dates in eleven days, they were engaged. They married in March 1956 at the chapel in Fort Campbell, recessing under a saber arch, the sabers borrowed from the U.S. Army, and held at a disconcerting variety of angles in their wedding photo. After a honeymoon in New Orleans, they returned to Champaign, Ill., where George was working full time while earning his MS in Engineering at the University of Illinois. Madeline became a full time homemaker, with daughter Catherine born in Dec. 1956, and daughter Rebecca in July 1960. They moved to the Allentown, Pa., area when George worked at The Bethlehem Steel Corporation. They found joy restoring an old house on fabled Fourth Street in Catasauqua, Pa. During those years, she became interested in sewing and made matching mother/daughter dresses that were not always well received by her daughters. She was, however, acknowledged to be a superb cook, and could make fried chicken and cornbread that were unequalled, and a Harvey Wallbanger cake that is famous among family and friends. When her daughters went to college, Madeline returned to nursing. She retrained in an adult nursing class for former nurses who had been away from practice and went to work as the store nurse at Bamberger's department store, and then as the head nurse at Cedarbrook, a facility in Allentown, Pa., where she was responsible for adult patients with special needs. One talented patient who was wheelchair bound after polio was known for his artwork and painted a lovely bowl of roses, her favorite flower, which has been proudly displayed at her home since. As they neared retirement, Madeline and her husband visited Wytheville, Va., and instantly were attracted to the community, where they felt they had come home. Madeline loved this place which had a creek out front, deer in the woods to the side and rose bushes in the yard out back from which she would often clip a bloom for the table. She has been active in the Daughters of the American Revolution for many years, having done the work to document that her ancestors fought in the American Revolution. She participated actively in the local chapter and at the time of her death, Madeline planned to distribute clothing to veterans for Christmas the following day. She is a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wytheville. Madeline is survived by her loving husband of almost 56 years, George William Zuurbier, a civil and structural engineer; by her daughters Catherine Rose (Hayward) Plzak, Md., and husband, Louis F. Plzak Jr., MD, and her daughter, Rebecca Ann Zuurbier, MD, and her partner Danielle M. Foullon; grandchildren Lindsay Rebecca Hayward, Andrew Scott Hayward, Charles Jameson Hayward, Madison Merritt Ball and Griffin Sandler Ball. Funeral service will be Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, at 11 a.m. at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, conducted by Pastor Steve Ridenhour and Vicar Jon Myers, with the interment in the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery. Family received friends Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Saturday from 10 a.m. until service time. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Stained Glass Window Fund, 405 W. Main St., Wytheville, VA 24382. Grubb Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.