Harriett Vanderschaaf, daughter of Orel Champney and Nettie Sherwood Champney, was born in October of 1932 in Rapid City, Mich. She passed away peacefully in her sleep Saturday, April 22, 2023. Harriett attended public schools and graduated from Mary Crapo High School in Swartz Creek, Mich., in 1950.
She married her high school sweetheart John N. Vanderschaaf in 1954. Harriett and John were married for 69 years. She was a loving wife and mother and traveled in support of her husband’s Army Corps of Engineers career serving in numerous locations throughout the U.S., Germany, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.
Harriett and John made their home in Moscow from 1975 until 1978 when John served as Chair of the UI Army ROTC Department.
Harriett was a mother to three children: John, Vicki and Ginger. In retirement, Harriett and John called Brevard, N.C. their home since 1992. They embraced and served the community in many ways, volunteering for 14 years with Meals on Wheels. She loved to play bridge, attend concerts at the Brevard Music Center, always had a wonderful sense of humor and, being an accomplished hostess, Harriett loved to entertain.
She is preceded in death by her daughter Vicki, and will be forever loved and remembered by her husband John, by her children John and his wife Ivete and Ginger Vanderschaaf, and by her grandchildren Chris, Ariel, Scott and Ellen Dennis.
