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- My grandmother, Carol (VanZeeland) DeBruin was born April 4, 193r, in Wrightstown, WI. She was the daughter of Bernard and Catherine (Ebben) VanZeeland. She was the oldest of six children and she had three sisters and two brothers.
At the age of one, grandma and her parents moved to Kaukauna. She attended Holy Cross Catholic Grade School and graduated from Kaukauna High School. She got her wish to become a secretary when she was offered a job at Thilmany Pulp and Paper Company in her senior year. She worked part-time from January until she graduated in May. Her first job was in the stenographic department. Over the next ten years she was secretary for three of Thilmany's Presidents, Elmer Jennings, Guy McCorison, and Charles Dostal.
On May 25, 1961, grandma married Tom DeBruin at Holy Cross Church in Kaukauna. They moved to Little Chute where Tom was employed at The Bank of Little Chute. Grandma and grandpa had four children. Deb, Frank, Tim, and Terri. They were also blessed with 17 grandchildren.
Grandma and grandpa enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving at their house with grandma's brothers, sisters, and their children for many years. They also enjoyed vacationing one week each year in July in northern Wisconsin with the same group of people. This has been going on for over thirty years.
One of grandma's greatest joys was being able to visit Medjugorje in 1990 with her three sisters. Medjugorje is where our Blessed Mother has been appearing to six visionaries since 1981. It was so wonderful to witness the deep faith of the people in Medjugorje, said grandma.
For four years, two weeks each time, grandma and grandpa went with Mission Honduras as volunteers to assist with mission work. Grandma said, It was so great to see how happy and faith filled the very poor people are.
Kate Hammen 2006
My grandma, Carol De Bruin, was born April 4, 1934 in Wrightstown, WI. She was the
oldest of six children; four girls and two boys. Her parents are Bernard and Catherine Van
Zeeland. They moved to Kaukauna when she was one. They thought their family was complete
after five children; however, her youngest brother arrived twenty-one years later.
Interestingly, her mother experienced a miracle when she received her last sacraments
on the Feast of St. Joseph, which was March 19, 1957. This was three months before her
daughter Joan's wedding. Due to her strong faith, she overcame several illnesses and
continued to live for another 14 Y2 years.
My grandma went to Holy Cross grade school and graduated from Kaukauna High
School in 1952. She worked at Thilmany Paper Mill as a secretary for ten years. On May 25,
1961, she married Thomas F. De Bruin at Holy Cross Church in Kaukauna. They then moved to
little Chute and began their family. She quit work in February 1962 and had her first child, Deb,
on April 30. Then they had a son, Frank, on February 19, 1964, followed by a set of twins (one
boy and one girl), Timothy and Terri, on January 17,1965. They built a home in 1962 at 1302 E.
lincoln Avenue, at which place my grandma still lives 48 years later.
In 1988, my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. She went through about a year of
treatments, but fortunately has been healthy ever since. Her husband, Tom, was a successful
banker and President of the Bank of little Chute for many years. On March 23, 2001, at the age
of 69, my grandpa passed away from Acute Mylogenous leukemia.
My grandma enjoys bowling, playing cards, volunteering at Parkside Care Center, and
traveling. She went to Europe, Germany, France, and Holland in 1989, Medugorje in 1990,
Hawaii in 1999, and took four trips to Honduras to do missionary work for Father Emil Cook.
She has spent many, many years making bead rosaries for Father Patrick Peyton's mission to
promote recitation of the family rosary. He died in 1992; however, the Holy Cross Family
Ministries continues to carryon his tradition in fourteen countries. My grandma is also very
devoted in leading the rosary at St. John's Church before every weekday mass, and has been
doing this since 1990. In addition, she displays her faith by promoting retreats for Monte
Alverno, counting the weekly collections, and organizing religious activities such as the Corpus
Christi. Her spare time is spent with her family and seventeen grandchildren who vacation
yearly at North Twin lodge in Phelps, WI.
by Troy De Bruin, 2010
My grandma was born in April 4, 1934. She was the daughter of Bernard and Catherine Van Zeeland. She was the oldest of six kids. She had two brothers and three sisters in her family.
At the age of one, grandma moved to Kaukauna. She went to Holy Cross grade school and graduated from Kaukauna high school. After high school she went to do her dream as a secretary at Thilmany. Her first job was in was in in the Stenographic Department. She moved through different jobs and finally became the secretary to three of Thilmany's presidents.
On May 25, 1961, my grandma married my grandpa. After they got married they bought a house in Little Chute. One thing my grandma always wanted to be able to do was visit Medjugorje. That is the place where the Blessed Mother had been appearing to six people since 1981. In 1990 she and her three sisters went to see Medjugorje for themselves. My grandma thought it was awesome to see so many people praising God at one time. She said that these people had very deep faith.
Grandma and grandma also went to volunteer with Mission Honduras and assist with the mission work. She thought it was great to see how happy and faithful these very poor people are.
Mary Hammen, 2011
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1934 - 2023 (89 years)
