"She was fiercely protective and loyal to her kids," her aunt Michelle Bolks tells PEOPLE.
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Reverend Seine Bolks is still known among the people as Dominee Bolks - a title of respect and the Dutch equivalent of 'Reverend Bolks'. When a call was first extended to him in the fall of 1871, he declined, but later accepted after the call was extended to him a second time. He arrived in Orange City and began his pastorate in April 1872. As a young man, Bolks had shown promise and was hand- picked and trained by Rev.
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Later, when churches organized in Sioux Center and Alton, he preached to these congregations until they received their own ministers. In addition to being a minister, Bolks was often called upon to care for the sick and injured. In the absence of a medical doctor, Bolks used his limited medical training to perform amputations and to assist midwives. Once a trained doctor arrived at the colony, Bolks refused to make any more calls.
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Shane Bolks AKA Shana Galen (her pen name) is an American author of contemporary fiction (chick lit) and historical romance novels.
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Due to failing health, Bolks handed over his responsibilities to Rev. Buursma, though he remained active in the community until his death on June 16, 1894.
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However, the people persevered, in part because of the constant reassurance of Dominee Bolks. Through immigration, birth, and mission, the church continued to grow steadily into the 20th century.
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Maurice Bolks Visscher (August 25, 1901 – May 1, 1983) was an American cardiovascular physiologist. He is best known for demonstrating that cardiac muscle declines in efficiency as it fails, and for pioneering the use of isotopes to study electrolyte absorption in the small intestine.
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Albertus van Raalte (Dutch immigrant and founder of Holland, MI). Bolks followed Van Raalte to Michigan in 1848 where he became the first pastor of the Overisel Reformed Church. He served churches in Wisconsin and Illinois before coming to northwest Iowa. He preached twice each Sunday in Orange City and as the community grew and spread, he would journey three to four times a week to an outlying schoolhouse to preach to those who lived far from the church.
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After the church was officially organized, it extended a call to the Reverend Seine Bolks of Zeeland, Michigan, who became the church's first minister in April 1872. The first few years were exceedingly hard for the new settlers. "Prairie fires, hordes of grasshoppers which stripped the fields bare, hail-storms, droughts and severe blizzards were commonplace during the first decade of the church’s existence". The Church was even forced to close for a few weeks in 1882 as a result of a smallpox epidemic.
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