Petrus (Piet) "Pete" Karel DeRee

Wichita-  Piet “Pete” DeRee, age 96, passed away Sat, Feb. 15, 2020. Visitation, 9am-7pm, Tues, Feb 18, with family present 5:30-7pm, at Shinkle Mortuary, Haysville. Rosary, 7pm, Wed, Feb 19. Funeral Mass, 10am, Thurs, Feb. 20, BOTH at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, Schulte.

He is preceded in death by his wife of nearly 40 years, Rosella Pahls of Cawker City, Kansas. Founders of DeRee Nursery on South Broadway in Wichita. After retirement Piet moved to Clearwater, Kansas. He was born Petrus Karel de Ree in Lisse, Holland on July 8, 1923. As a young adult, he survived the devastating, five-year occupation of his homeland by the Nazis during WWII. In 1948, he emigrated to the U.S. as an agricultural worker. Soon he had the good fortune to meet Rosella. They married in 1950 and Piet became a naturalized citizen the following year. Subsequently he sponsored three of his ten siblings as they emigrated from Holland to the United States—his late sister Annie Beugelsdijk and late brothers Henk and Gerard of Dutch’s Greenhouse. Piet and Rosella worked at Boeing and Cessna respectively, as they began to build the nursery business. Piet is survived by his four children, Rebecca (Neil) Varbel of Derby; Stan of Douglass; Marlene and Beverly (Dennis) Woods of Clearwater; 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a brother and sister in Holland.

In lieu of flowers: memorials, John C. Pair Horticulture Center, 1901 E. 95th St. S, Haysville, KS 67060 and Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS 67202.

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