Longtime Claremont resident, great-grandmother

Longtime Claremont resident Darlene Grace Van Zee died July 5, 2017 in Rancho Cucamonga, California. She was 79. 

Ms. Van Zee was born to Clyde and Nettie Roadifer in Spokane, Washington on July 20, 1937. She was the youngest of seven children in a family that also included four brothers and two sisters. She was raised in Sundance, Wyoming.

She met her husband, Marion Van Zee, when she was 18. The couple married on September 16, 1956. They had two children, Jim and Jerry Van Zee. The young family settled in Claremont, California in 1964, where they raised their two sons. They were blessed with five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. 

Ms. Van Zee is survived by her son Jim Van Zee and daughter-in-law, Lydia Van Zee of Upland, California; son Jerry Van Zee and Daughter-in-law Debbie Van Zee of Tucson, Arizona; three granddaughters and two grandsons; one great-grandson and one great-granddaughter; brother Don Roadifer of Spokane; brother Dallas Roadifer of Rapid City, South Dakota; and sister Ruth Gurkowski of Sundance, Wyoming.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Marion Van Zee; her mother and father; two brothers and one sister; and one grandson. 

Services will be held at 10 a.m. on August 11 at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, 1168 E. G St., Ontario, California.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Ms. Van Zee’s name to the Inland Valley Humane Society at ivhsspca.org.