Billie Van Dyke
Billie Van Dyke
Billie Van Dyke
June 24, 1931 – December 17, 2013
Oskaloosa, Iowa | Age 82
Billie Van Dyke was a ray of Texas sunshine. You could hear it when she bragged about being from the panhandle and you could feel it when she smiled at you or gave you a good ol’ pat on the arm. On the morning of Tuesday, December 17, 2013, the ray of Texas sunshine went dark.
Billie was being cared for at Northern Mahaska Nursing and Rehab Center. The ray of sunshine first shone on June 24, 1931, at Dalhart, Texas. She was the daughter of Jack and Viola Devine Ramsey. On January 14, 1966, she was united in marriage to Richard “Dick” Van Dyke at Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Billie and Dick moved to Oskaloosa in November of 1966 and opened Drug Fair. She worked at the store part time for several decades. They eventually opened Van Dyke Drug and later Medicap Pharmacy in Oskaloosa. She remained a fixture in the store even after Dick’s death on December 29, 2004, lending a helping hand to daughter Michelle Heidebrink, who had taken over store operations.
Over the past 40 years, if you golfed at Edmundson Golf Course, bowled at Mahaska Bowl, or shopped at Hy-Vee on Saturday afternoon, or bought your medicine at Drug Fair, Van Dyke Drug or Medicap, chances are you met Billie. She would have brightened your day with a “Hi there, kid!” That is just the kind of person Billie Louise Van Dyke was; and having met her your world would forever be a brighter place.
Her family includes her three children and their spouses, Mickey and Dawn Finley of Midland, Texas, Michelle and Tom Heidebrink of Oskaloosa and Sam and Aiyanna Looney of Oskaloosa; four grandchildren, Jake (& Summer) Finley, Jeff Heidebrink, Spencer Heidebrink, and Laney Heidebrink; two great granddaughters, Bailee and Madison and another great granddaughter Teagan on the way.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, and two brothers.
As was Billie’s wish, her body has been cremated.
Visitation with the family present will be on Saturday afternoon from 1 – 5 in the Bates Funeral Chapel in Oskaloosa.
