Beulah Zoutendam

Beulah Zoutendam died peacefully on the morning of March 29, 2026. She was 90 years old, and though her modest stature and unassuming manner might suggest otherwise, she lived a remarkably full and adventurous life. She retained her dry sense of humor and love for words and word games until the very end. She was beloved by family and friends across multiple states, regions, and even continents.

Beulah was born in 1935 in Mahaska County, Iowa, to Isaac and Anna Roorda. She started her education in a small rural school, just down the road from the family farm, and went on to graduate from Pella High School and Central College in Pella. It was at Central College that she met Wayne Zoutendam, and the two married in 1955. Not long before they married - but, singificantly, after Wayne was already legally blind due to retinitis pigmentosa - Wayne taught Beulah how to drive. From that point forward, until her husband's death in 2020, Beulah was Wayne's wheelman, sidekick, bodyguard, medic, and better judgment during a lifetime of roadtrips and expeditions, both domestic and international.

Beulah was always an active member of a local church (sometimes multiple churches), and often played piano or organ during worship services. Early in her married life, she was a social worker and a piano teacher. Post-"retirement," she and Wayne spent months at a time serving with Wycliffe Associates, a Bible translation ministry, at sites in Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Beulah was particularly proud of her work over many years in the library at the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in Duncanville, TX.

Beulah and Wayne also served together on multiple mission trips throughout Africa. During one such trip, a violent coup in a West African nation required Beulah, Wayne, and other volunteers to be evacuated by the French army (first in an armored personnel carrier, and then in a military plane). Rather than return stateside, they simply continued their missionary work in a neighboring country, and returned when things "quieted down."

Beulah and Wayne treated each of their six grandchildren to a cross-country roadtrip, at some point before they were too tall for the the mattress that stretched across the front seats of the "RV" (a blue Ford Econoline van the Zoutendams had reconfigured). When Beulah was not on the road, in the air, or off the grid, she enjoyed quieter moments with family and friends in and around her home base in Marshfield, Wisconsin. She was a mainstay at the Roorda family reunions that took place across the Midwest.

Beulah was preceded in death by her husband Wayne, sisters Anna Ruth and Joyce, and brothers James and Norman. She is survived by her sister Audrey (Newberry, SC); daughter Beth and her husband Tim Foemmel (Marshfield, WI); son David and his wife Carol (Longview, TX); all six grandchildren: Jason, Carl, and Lee Foemmel, Tanya Panter, and Michel and Philip Zoutendam; and eleven great-grandchildren.

Her family would like to thank the staff at Wells Nature View (S. Adams Ave) and Heartland Hospice for attentive and compassionate care in the final months of her life.

A Memorial Service for Beulah will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 2, 2026, at the Cornerstone Community Church in Marshfield, WI. Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 2nd at the church.

Online Condolences may be made at www.geschefh.com.

Gesche Funeral Home and Cremation Service is assisting Beulah's family with Funeral arrangements.