Jennie (Bandstra) Masselink

Jennie (Bandstra) Masselink age 90 of Chandler, MN died Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at the Edgebrook Care Center in Edgerton, MN. Services will be 10:30 AM Monday, June 25, 2012 at the Chandler Christian Reformed Church in Chandler. Visitation will be from 2:00 until 4:00 PM Sunday, June 24, 2012 at the Chandler Funeral Chapel and continuing one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday. Interment will be in the Chandler Memorial Cemetery. The Chandler Funeral Association is handling the arrangements.

Jennie (Bandstra) Masselink was born August 1, 1921 to William and Frances (Broekhuis) Gunnink in Brooten, MN.  At the age of 1 1/2 she moved with her family to a farm near Leota, MN, where she attended country school and Leota Public Schools.  She was baptized and professed her faith in the Christian Reformed Church.

On November 18, 1942 Jennie married Rick Bandstra at her parents’ farm near Leota.  They made their home on a farm near Chandler for a few months and in March of 1943 they moved to a farm near Woodstock, MN, where they lived for fifteen years.  In the spring of 1958 they bought a farm near Chandler and remained on the farm till her husband’s retirement in December of 1970, when they moved into Chandler.  Jennie went to work at the Chandler Café in January of 1970 and continued to work there until she retired in 1996.  After her husband, Rick’s death in 1989, she stayed in her home in Chandler.  On June 28, 1996 Jennie married Gerald Masselink at the Chandler Christian Reformed Church and they made their home in Chandler and Ontario, CA.  Gerald died in 2003 and Jennie remained in her home in Chandler, keeping herself busy with family, her church and the community.

She was a past member of the Christian Reformed Church in Chino, CA and was a current member of the Chandler Christian Reformed Church, where she was active in the church women’s groups, serving as both secretary and treasurer of the Ladies Aid over the years.  Jennie also served as secretary of the Chandler Senior Citizens.  She enjoyed crocheting, gardening, flowers, shopping, fishing and card playing, but especially loved her time spent with her children and their families.

In July of 2010 Jennie moved into the Edgebrook Estates, before becoming a resident of the Edgebrook Care Center in April of 2012, where she died Wednesday, June 20, 2012, surrounded by her loving family, at the age of 90.

Jennie is survived by her two sons, Jim (Alice) Bandstra of Big Rapids, MI and Bob (Laura) Bandstra of Aurora, CO; three daughters, Verla Mellema of Kent, WA, Marg (Gary) Runkle of Slayton, MN and Pat Sheffield of Woodbridge, VA; eleven grandchildren; twenty two great grandchildren; three brothers, Peter (Mary) Gunnink of Lake Wilson, MN, Bert (Etta Mae) Gunnink of Pipestone, MN and Arnie (Connie) Gunnink of Leota, MN; nieces, nephews and friends.

Her first husband, Rick Bandstra, son-in-law, Roger Mellema, her parents, two brothers, Richard (Ruth) Gunnink and John B. (Annie) Gunnink and her second husband, Gerald Masselink preceded her in death.

The family of Jennie (Bandstra) Masselink requests that memorials be given to either the Pipestone County Hospice/Home Care or the Chandler Christian School.