Margaret Bess Ver Steeg

When you ask me why I am honoring my grandmother by means of purchasing a brick in her honor in the Plaza of Heroines, it is indeed because she was and is a heroine. Although she is no longer alive in a physical body she is very much alive in all the people that knew her.

My grandmother was born Margaret Bess Grundman, outside Pella, Iowa on a farm. She married George Ver Steeg and raised four children: Marcia, Phyllis, and twins Carol and Carl. She found plenty of adventures in Pella, including a mail route in the country (on horseback), teaching school in a one room school house, feeding a family during the depression, quilting her needlework, coffee time, volunteering her time at church and elsewhere, playing Scrabble on Saturday nights with her buddies, lots and lots of walking and, of course, enjoying her 12 grandchildren.

She had her trials and tribulations, like others of her day, but she bore them with such grace, humor and fun. And that is what I would like to thank her for - the legacy she left me of her love of life. She loved life and she loved people. She loved adventure. She loved God and her life was a tribute to the many blessings he gave her. She did not attend Iowa State University, but many of her children and grandchildren did, with her encouragement and support. She was so proud of us, as we are of her.

And so, on behalf of all who knew and loved, her I am honoring her with a place in the Plaza of Heroines. She is indeed a heroine.

Submitted on 10/2/95