Denise was born in 1927 and grew up in Holland during World War 2.  She loved to tell her friends and family stories about her childhood and what it was like to grow up on the front lines of the war.  She had two sisters, Emma and Francois who remained close their entire lives.  She married Jacobus (Jack) in 1948.  They had three children, Nellie, Leo and Dennis. Nellie and Leo were born in Holland.   The family immigrated to the US, they arrived on the S.S. Zuiderkruis on New Years Day 1957 with Denise, Jack, Nellie, Leo, Denise’ mom (Agnes Clementina), sister Emma and her husband Mike(Huyten), and their boys John and Bill, Mike’s brothers Nick and Frank, Frank’s wife Anne and son Bill (“The Original 13”).  She loved to tell the story of traveling on the Zuiderkruis, the rough seas and also the good times they had. After the stop in the New York area,  Denise, Jack, Nellie and Leo moved to Florissant, MO where Jack worked as a carpenter.  The rest of the family moved to Moline, IL.  Shortly after moving to the US, her sister Emma had a son, Marty.  This sparked Denise and Jack to have another themselves, Dennis in 1963.  The family stayed very close and made many trips between Florissant and Moline over the years.  During her life, Denise was involved with the church and spent a lot of time working in the nursery taking care of the children there.  She never got her driver license so kept in very good health walking to the church and various places around town.  She loved spending time with and telling stories to her grandchildren (Joe, Nick, Krista, Alexa and Ethan).  She enjoyed many family trips and her time working in her garden, upkeep of the yard, knitting and crocheting.  Denise loved animals, all of them!  She had many dogs over the years and spoiled them all.  She also enjoyed feeding any animal that would come into her yard….rabbits, squirrels, birds,  raccoons…it didn’t matter, they would come to her back door and she would take care of them.  

Her husband Jack passed away in 1972 and Denise showed how strong she was taking care of her family through a difficult time.  As the years went on, she met many more friends and found a great companion, Bill, to spend some time with.  They were members of the Alton Eagles club and had a great time out with friends and they loved to go dancing. As her age advanced she moved to a condo in Weldon Spring with her dog Nicky to be close to Nellie.  She was very proud of her age and the ability to live on her own.  She made many amazing and helpful friends at Chapter One who looked after her.  All the dogs in the complex knew her and waited by her door to get their snacks every day.  She had food delivery people come and many times would stay and visit with her most of the afternoon.  She always enjoyed painting things…anything!  Walls, rocks, trash cans...it didn’t matter.  They all looked better to her with flowers, butterflies or faces on them!  She was a very picky eater.  No cheese, no butter!  She loved to eat ice cream, reeses peanut butter cups, twinkies and nutty bars (“crunchies”). 


2020 has been a unique year with this crazy pandemic, unfortunately it was Covid that was too tough of a battle for her. Denise touched so many lives with her great smile that many she met would continue to come by and visit, write letters and keep in contact whether it was at the hospital, Delmar Gardens, her house in Florissant or her condo at Chapter One. She would do anything for anyone and considered everyone in her life family.