Gertrude Lillie Ryckman Huisingh

Gertrude Lillie Ryckman Huisingh, 106, was finally called home by her loving and faithful Heavenly Father on June 16, 2013. Gertrude was born May 30, 1907 at the rural home of her parents, Fletcher and Lillie Ryckman Grandpa and Gramma in Emmons County, North Dakota.

She grew up in this rural setting, a few miles west of Westfield, North Dakota and north of Pollock, South Dakota. The youngest of seven children, Gertrude, her two sisters, Ella and Carrie, and four brothers, David, Carl, Warren and Fred found hard work was a daily occurrence on the prairies of the Dakotas. The 2-story frame house of Gramma's was the birth-place for each of the siblings. The nearest doctor was 60 miles away in Linton, N.D. and the nearest hospital was 100 miles north in Bismark. Education, in those days, was in a one or two room school-house and commonly concluded with 8th grade.

She met and married Henry Huisingh on June 8th, 1932, during the tough Depression era of the '30s with little money and no promise of much more. Gertrude and Henry worked about 800-1000 acres of 'share-cropped' dry land. Crops consisting of wheat, barley, oats, flax and others as the 'dust bowl' of the Dakotas permitted, for nearly 10 years. Their frame farmhouse had no electricity, a small wood heater, water pumped by hand at the windmill and, of course, the ever present outhouse.

One of Mama's favorite stories was the one where, on a hot, dry, summer day she went down the stairway to our dirt basement to retrieve potatoes for supper. She was part way down the stairs when she saw and heard the dread rattles of a coiled rattlesnake. Our early training in how the hand of God works frequently in our lives includes how He stayed the strike of that snake as she retreated to the kitchen. She, later, always seemed to have her long-handled broom with her on trips to the basement! The birth of a daughter blessed them for the one brief day of her life. This tragedy brought a lifetime of illness and mental turmoil to our dear mother. Three sons, Harvey, Willis, and Larry, were born to them in this difficult setting. In 1942, the family moved to Shelton, Washington and two years later to Aberdeen, Washington. She loved to cook, bake, sew and enjoyed living near her sister Ella and family in Aberdeen. Mom worked at the local plywood plant for several years during World War II and also enjoyed her years as a waitress in different restaurants.

Gertrude and Henry raised their three boys to honor God and serve Jesus Christ as their lives unfolded. She loved her piano and cherished the hours with family and friends singing hymns with gusto while she played accompaniment. Having played piano at her church occasionally, she even did a fair job at the piano after her 100th birthday when coaxed enough to come sit at the ivories in the Evergreen Room at the Wesley Homes Health Center.

When retirement presented a life of day and night togetherness, Gertrude and Henry were like a wheel and an axle with neither turning left nor right without the other. They thanked God every day for each day He gave them. In 1989, Gertrude and Henry moved from Aberdeen to Richland, Washington, where their eldest son, Harvey and family, lived.

Mom was predeceased by her beloved husband Henry, who went to meet his Lord on February 27, 1993. She is survived by three sons and their families, Harvey Huisingh and wife Kaye, Willis Huisingh and wife Beverly, Larry Huisingh and wife Sandy. She is also survived by grandchildren, Larry Huisingh & wife Lynn, Jeff Huisingh & wife Stacey, Gregg Huisingh & wife Sharon, Becca Huisingh Knudsen & husband Karl, Debbie Huisingh Doyle, Mike Huisingh, Ken Huisingh, Gary Huisingh & wife Carole, Melinda Huisingh, and fourteen great-grandchildren.

A special thank you to the staff at Wesley Homes Health Center, in Des Moines, Washington, who cared for her and loved her in the last years of her life. To this end, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial/donations be made out to West Side Church with 'memo' to Wesley Homes Foundation.

Graveside services for the family will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, June 29th at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Richland, Washington.

A memorial service to celebrate Gertrude's life will be held at 1:00 PM this same day at West Side Church, 603 Wright Ave, Richland, WA.