Grace Van Der Molen

Grace Van Der Molen, (Nee Roskam), age 91, was born in Friesland, Holland on July 25, 1934, the daughter of Hans and Rena Roskam. She had an older brother Peter Roskam and a younger brother Gary Roskam. At the age of 12, she and her family emigrated to the United States right after World War II. They settled on a dairy farm in Monroe, New York. Her parents kept her home from school, because she was the only one in the family who spoke English, which she had learned in Holland. The Roskam family became members of the Goshen Christian Reformed Church, which at the time had a large Dutch membership. It was at church where Grace met the love of her life, John Van Der Molen Sr. After a courtship they married on October 22, 1954 at the Goshen Christian Reformed Church. After their honeymoon, they settled in on the Van Der Molen dairy farm in Howells, N.Y. They then started having children, four boys total, John Jr., Eddie, Kenny, and Roger. John Sr. left the farm and started driving a tractor trailer for Rupp Southern Tier in Middletown, and the family moved first to Fair Oaks, N.Y., eventually settling into their lifetime home in Circleville, N.Y. Grace remained a housewife all through her life, occasionally picking up house cleaning jobs after her children started attending school. John and Grace enjoyed many summer camping vacations to Ocean City, Maryland with family and friends. They also spent many winters in their condo, located in North Palm Beach, Florida enjoying the company of their neighbors. Grace never met a person she didn’t want to talk to. She would talk with perfect strangers in the grocery checkout line, often bragging about her family, especially her grandchildren. She was also a professional garage sale shopper. You could count on her every Saturday morning at 8 AM, heading out by herself, map in hand, with a classified page torn out of the Times Herald Record, listing every garage sale in Orange County with her primary locations circled. She would return around noon with her many new found treasures which were always like new or still had the tags on them.

Grace and John Sr. enjoyed 69 years of happily married life together until John Sr’s passing in August 2024. Grace is survived by her sons, John Van Der Molen Jr, Kenneth and wife Dawn Van Der Molen, Roger Van Der Molen and Daughters in law Betsy Van Der Molen and Vickie Van Der Molen, along with her 8 grand-children and their spouses and her 16 great grand-children . She was predeceased by her parents, her husband John Van Der Molen Sr., her son Eddie Van Der Molen, her brothers Peter and Gary Roskam.

A Funeral Service to celebrate Grace’s life will be held on Saturday, October 4 at 11:00 AM at the Goshen Christian Reformed Church, 2440 Rt- 17A, Goshen, N.Y. 10924. Refreshments will follow at the church. Burial will be private at the convenience of the family.

Memorial Contributions can be made to the Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties, The Goshen Christian School or the Goshen Christian Reformed Church.

Funeral Arrangements are under the care of Donovan Funeral Home, 82 South Church St., Goshen, N.Y. 10924