CANDI SOETENGA

Candi Soetenga, 93, died April 12, 2014, at the Comfort House in Pella, Iowa. She spent much of her adult life as a medical professional, but preferred her life not be summed up by a medical diagnosis. She read once of “Genug Syndrome.” Genug is an old Yiddish term for “enough” or “enough already.” After 93 years of living, 53 years of marriage, six children, a nursing career, travel, friends, and faith, she left this world with enough.

On her 80th and 90th birthdays, family and friends gathered to celebrate her life. All the people that loved her most were given the opportunity to honor her. She would likely say that those two celebrations were “genug” and not to linger when it came time for the obituary.

Born in Chicago in 1921, she arrived on earth with bright blue eyes and a set of dimples that framed her radiant smile. Not one of her children inherited either of these lovely features, but much to her surprise and delight, both blue eyes and dimples keep showing up in grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Hank. She was always the glue to his glitter. She loved books, birds, opera, travel, NCIS, crossword puzzles, and babies, particularly her own. Motherhood was a serious job with serious consequences if done badly. She insisted on good manners, thank you notes, hospital corner sheets, prayer before meals and bedtime, and finding answers to your own questions. She preferred Puffs over Kleenex, and believed you should always have one or the other tucked up your sleeve just in case. Even in her last days she still won at gin rummy.

She could drive you mad with her ambivalence, disarm you with her charm, be so practical that it bordered on insensitivity, and then claim your deepest grief as her own. From her birth as a sickly babe through her old age, she impressed everyone with her resilience and finally in her last days, her courage.

Survivors include her children, Claudia (Roy) Van Wyk, her firstborn and faithful caregiver; Dawn (Stephen) Clark; Gayle McJunkin; Mark (Carolyn) Soetenga, Wendy (Doug) Silver, Steve (Tami) Soetenga; 10 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

A memorial celebration will be held in the community where she and Hank shared their lives on Saturday, May 3, at Plymouth Congregational Church, 124 W. Washington St., Burlington. Family will receive friends at the church from 10-11 a.m., followed by a memorial service. Coburn Funeral Homes, Iowa, is serving the family.

Donations in her name may be given to the charity of the donor’s choice.

She didn’t think it really mattered where she went to school or what she’d done. What truly counted was that so many people touched her heart; and she hoped she touched theirs. Gin, Candi, Gin.