Susan Vandervate

Susan Vandervate, age 86, of Hanover, Illinois, passed away Thursday, January 9, 2020, at Galena Stauss Nursing Center, Galena, Illinois. A funeral service will be held 11:00 a.m. Monday, January 13, 2020 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Hanover with Pastors Bruce and Lisa Burbank officiating. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Galena. Visitation will be held 10:00 – 11:00 a.m., one hour prior to the service at the Church. Memorials to honor Susan may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Hospice of Dubuque, or Greenwood Cemetery.

Susan was born April 28, 1933 in Elizabeth, Illinois, the daughter of Herman and Anna (Gruber) Holland. She is a 1951 graduate of the Galena High School. On June 12, 1954, Susan married Clifford Benjamin Vandervate. They survived raising four daughters and celebrated forty-four years together.

Susan and Cliff owned and operated Vandervate Greenhouse in Hanover for many years, and their daughters have fond memories working in the family business as they grew up. After the kids were grown, Susan worked twenty-seven years at Eaton Corporation in Hanover, retiring in 1998. In younger years, she also worked at the Savanna Army Depot. She was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hanover and a Past Matron in the Order of the Eastern Star.

Keeping up with friends was important, writing Pen Pals and sharing birthday cards. Susan also enjoyed Dot-to-Dot word search, watching Old Westerns, playing cards, and the beauty of raising plants and flowers.

Susan will be dearly missed by her four daughters, Debra (Curtis) Schock of McAlester, Oklahoma, Carla Flynn of Elizabeth, Diana (Mike) Miller of Hanover and Tammy Handel (Mike Cooper) of Clinton, Iowa; thirteen grandchildren, Rachel Schock, Brett (Kanimaya) Schock, Amanda (Jeremy) Tucker, Emily (Derrick McIntosh) Schock, Crystal (Tony) Geerts, Courtenay Flynn, Joshua (Paige) Miller, Jeremy (Ashley Bourette) Miller, Kayla (Cody Graves) Miller, Haley (Andrew) Vandervate-Murphy, Brandy (Matt Liberg) Stadel, Christian Stadel, and Cheyenne Stines; twenty-four great grandchildren; a brother, Bill (Dorothy) Holland of Stockton; a sister, Marie Kempert of Galena; and two sisters-in-law, Carol Rayhorn and Shirley Potter, both of Elizabeth. Susan is preceded in death by her husband, Cliff; four brothers; two sisters; a son-in-law, John Flynn; and a great-grandson, Jacob Rich.