Peter Gus Vander Meulen

1947 - 2022

Peter Gus Vander Meulen
August 11, 1947 - December 7, 2022
Escalon, California - With his family by his side, Pete was ushered into the comforting arms of Jesus on Dec 7, after a brave fight against cancer. Pete was born at Escalon hospital on August 11, 1947, to Gus and Anna (Van Dam) Vander Meulen and enjoyed a fun and lively upbringing on the family dairy along with his 6 siblings. He attended Ripon Christian where he made many lifelong friends and met the love of his life and future wife, Edith (Meninga). Together they worked side by side at Pete's custom silage harvesting company, Vander Meulen, Inc., raised three wonderful children and enjoyed many adventures together, creating a lifetime of fond memories. Pete loved to be social, laughing and sharing stories with friends and family whenever they gathered together. He had a dry sense of humor and was known to joke and tease, but he did it with love and affection in his heart. He delighted in living life to the fullest and making lasting memories whether he was cutting the wake waterskiing, knee deep on a blue-bird powder day on the ski slopes, reeling in the biggest salmon or tuna that didn't get away, hitting all the fairways at Oakdale Golf and Country Club, solving the world's problems at the local coffee shop or off-roading up mountainsides and across deserts to enjoy God's beautiful creation. Most importantly, Pete was a life-long Christian and believed in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He served his church community in many ways at Escalon CRC and Escalon Heritage (formerly Escalon Covenant) as well as volunteering at Alaska Christian College and Ripon Christian's school board. Pete had a servant's heart and showed Jesus' love in the form of kindness, grace, patience, respect and genuine interest in all whom God put in his path. His presence in so many lives will be deeply missed here on earth, but we celebrate the day we will all be reunited in Heaven once again.
Pete is survived by Edith, his loving wife of 52 years, his children Phil (Jetta), Lisa, and Steven (Amy) who were his pride and joy, and his 10 cherished grandchildren Thea, Kirsi, Annelies, Helia, Peter, Cora, Ellietta, John, Griffin and Jack who were his heart's delight. He will also be greatly missed by his siblings Anna Jean (Ed) Prins, Bill (Joyce) Vander Meulen, John (Debby) Vander Meulen, Marlene (Ken) Van Staaveren, Sue (Jasper) Van Vliet, brothers-in-law Bill (Joann) Hoekstra, Ted (Faythe) Meninga and sister-in-law Linda (Jon) Van Tol as well many cousins, nieces and nephews too numerous to count. He was preceded in death by his parents Gus and Anna and his beloved sister Caroline Hoekstra.
Memorial donations may be sent to:
Alaska Christian College (35109 Royal Place, Soldotna AK 99669 or https://alaskacc.edu/give/)
Ripon Christian Schools (435 N Maple Ave, Ripon CA 95366 or https://www.rcschools.com/)
Visitation and memorial information can be found at https://www.deeganfuneralchapels.com/
Memorial will be live streamed at https://www.escaloncrc.org/