Doris (Vanden Avond) DeGrave 95, died on Thursday, September 14, 2023, surrounded by her family. She was born at home in the town of Humboldt to the late Ben and Lucy (Mellen) Vanden Avond on July 25, 1928. Doris attended Summit grade school and graduated high school from St Joseph Academy in 1946.
On August 16, 1947, she married Marvin De Grave, the love of her life, at Holy Martyrs Catholic Church, now known as Prince of Peace Catholic Church, where she was a member all of her life. Marvin preceded her in death on August 7, 1995. Doris volunteered at Holy Martyrs school as a teacher’s aide for over 30 years.
She loved to cook and bake, especially pies, chocolate chip cookies and cut out cookies, which she made for every Christmas and family celebration. Kids and grandkids always looked forward to her homemade Swedish meatballs, Belgian pies and kolaches. Doris also had a large garden with beautiful flowers (she especially loved gladiolas and zinnias) and rows of raspberries and strawberries. She canned every vegetable from her garden and all kinds of fruits and berries.
Doris and Marvin were the proud parents of ten children: Mary Geidel; Carol Steltenpohl; Mike (Sharon) DeGrave; Jean (Bruce) Borley; Diane (Daniel) Koester; Lynne (Dave) Estel; Kay (Jeff) Vandenplas; Lisa (Bill) Ouradnik and Kim (Dean) Basten. She also has 20 grandchildren: Stacy Rayford; Chad Geidel; Megan Freeman; Josh (Sharon) Geidel; Dena (Mark) Gullickson; Ryan (Kerri) Borley; Jason (Amy) Borley; Alissa (Chris) Vanden Hoven; Andrea (Chris) Walton; Kyle (Sarah) Koester; Julianna (Joe) Winker; Brian (Mallory) Estel; Kari (Jon) Blazek; Justin (Loren) Vandenplas; Nicole (John) VanRite; Jenna (Ross) Kulick; Tara Ouradnik; Zachary (Sarah) Basten; Tanner Basten and Mackenzie (Mark) O’Connell; 23 great grandchildren with one on the way, and one great great grandchild. She is further survived by two sisters, Elaine (Harvey) De Greef and Marie (John) Skaletski and sister-in-law Alice (Mel) Loehlein. She is also survived by many nephews and nieces.
Doris was preceded in death by a daughter, Ann Christine DeGrave; son-in-law, Larry Steltenpohl; brother, Bernard (Dorothy) Vanden Avond; sisters, Marilyn Vanden Avond and Marion (Robert) Liebmann. She was also preceded in death by her in-laws: Frank and Marie DeGrave; Eleanor and Robert Thompson; Verna and Norman Thompson; Dorothy and John Huven and Ruth and Francis Van Rite.
Friends may call at Proko-Wall Funeral Home, 1630 E Mason St from 4:00 – 7:00pm Tuesday, September 19. Parish wake service 7:00pm Tuesday. Visitation will continue on Wednesday at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, 3425 Willow Rd, from 9:30 – 10:45am. Funeral Mass 11:00am Wednesday at the church. Entombment will be in the Allouez Catholic Mausoleum. Online condolences may be sent to Doris’ family at www.prokowall.com. To view the funeral Mass for Doris on Wednesday, please visit the Prince of Peace Facebook page at: popgb54311
Doris’ family would like to extend their sincere gratitude to all the staff at Autumn’s Promise for the kindness and care they have given to Mom over the years. We would also like to thank Dr. Jason Nitke for his concern and compassion for Mom.