“I’m a word nerd, someone who loves stories and poetry and the magic of language.” –Carl Vandermeulen, 2009

Carl A. Vandermeulen, age 81, of Menomonie, died at home on Thursday, December 11, 2025. His wife Amy, son Simon, and end-of-life doula were with him when he passed. Carl was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in April 2024, living a year and eight months beyond diagnosis while continuing to play pickleball and building frames for Amy’s art exhibition at the University of Northern Iowa in September. His cancer took an aggressive turn for the worse in mid- to late November, when he was cared for by the Emergency Department of Mayo Clinic Health System in Menomonie, Mayo Clinic Hospital and Oncology Department in Eau Claire, and St. Croix Hospice for his last three days at home.

Carl was born September 24, 1944, to Jake and Tena (Bouwman) Vandermeulen in Missaukee County, MI and grew up on a dairy farm near Falmouth, MI where he bottle-fed kittens, fished in Butterfield Creek, hunted for squirrels and rabbits, swam in Dyer Lake, and hung out with Danny Martinez. Carl attended elementary school in Falmouth, MI and high school in McBain. He continued his education at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI where he struggled his first semester, was given grace by his German professor, and ultimately fell in love with reading and writing and the craft of storytelling. He majored in English Education and committed to bringing this same love of learning to his future students. 

Upon graduation from Calvin College, Carl was offered a teaching position at Unity Christian High School in Orange City, IA, where he was afforded the space and authority to teach literature to students in a meaningful way. He also served as advisor of the student newspaper, The Lance, and the yearbook, creating opportunities for students to find their voice.

Carl married his first wife Janice in 1963, with whom he had three children: Mark, Shari, and Lynae. He had fond memories of long road trips with them and was proud of the solar-powered home he designed and built for them in Orange City. Carl founded the Middleburg Press in 1978 and published literary and school journalism titles, including his own Photography for Student Publications, published in 1979.

In 1981, Carl began teaching Communication Studies courses part-time at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. In 1982, he became advisor for the Northwestern College newspaper, The Beacon, and also advised the poetry and fine arts magazine, The Spectrum. He soon joined NWC as a full-time faculty member and was a beloved part of the English and Communication Departments there for 25 years, establishing Journalism and Writing & Rhetoric majors, chairing the Communications Department, advising students, and securing a two-million-dollar Lily grant for the college before retiring in 2009.

Carl earned a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of South Dakota in 1970 and a Ph. D. in English with concentrations in rhetoric and composition, creative writing, literary theory, and Renaissance literature from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1995. In 2004-05, Carl spent seven months in South Africa, beginning work on his book and teaching at The King’s Court Christian School in Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo.

After retiring from NWC, Carl moved to Menomonie. He and Amy were married in 2010, and he adopted her son Simon in 2011. During his early years in Menomonie, he finished writing the manuscript of his book, Negotiating the Personal in Creative Writing, published by New Writing Viewpoints in August 2011. Carl also worked as a substitute teacher in the Menomonie Public School District, taught Composition I and II at UW–Stout, and an English Education course at UW–Eau Claire.

In 2015, Carl retired from work outside the home and became a full-time stay-at-home husband and dad. He built an extension to the kitchen, a sunroom, and backyard shed from used and sustainable materials; gathered and chopped wood for the wood stove; and learned to cook various cuisines, with Indian being a favorite. He spent many hours helping Simon with Science Olympiad projects and enjoyed going on food adventures with just the two of them. Carl was an amazing woodworker, building not only cabinets and rooms on the house, but an easel, desk, flat file, and cart for Amy’s studio and classroom. Carl enjoyed birdwatching, mushroom hunting, gardening, reading, learning about subjects Simon was studying, taking photographs, playing pickleball, and adoring his cats. Carl served as a Dunn County Supervisor for several years, representing District 19. In the role of county supervisor, he also served on the Judiciary Committee and was a commissioner on the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

Carl is survived by his wife, Amy Fichter of Menomonie; sons, Simon Fichter of Austin, TX; Mark Vandermeulen of Orange City, IA; daughters, Shari Vandermeulen (Jennifer Tremaine) of Milwaukee, Lynae Vandermeulen of Santa Fe, NM; and his first wife, Janice Vandermeulen of Orange City, IA.

He is preceded in death by his parents Jake and Tena, his brother Earl, and sister Jean.

A celebration of life gathering will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 29, 2025, at Olde Town Banquet Hall at 903 Cedar Falls Road in Menomonie, with a time of sharing at 6:00 p.m.

Condolences

1. Kady Wilder December 29, 2025, at 7:34pm

   There are times and places in life where we encounter people. And living in those times, they feel completely ordinary and commonplace, but later in life you look back and realize the treasure you encountered during those “flash-in-the-pan” of life series of moments.

   Carl made a huge impact on my life through the means of many small moments stacked together.

   Something he said to me once is as follows:

   “Whenever I find myself at a party, or in a large group of people, I look around and try to find someone that appears as miserable as me. And if I see someone like that, that's when I know I'll have a good conversation.”

   As an introvert to the bone I resonated so much with that. During my 4 years at Northwestern I very much enjoyed my classes, but my personality in class usually stayed loyal to me and my desire to fly under the radar and I remained a very reserved, quiet participant during the class discussions. At some point, during the first semester of my sophomore year, though, we were in a small sized rhetoric class in Granbeg Hall and Carl passed a picture of a comic strip around the table and asked for our comments on it. It was a single frame of a couple dining in a restaurant and the man was flagging the waiter down after being delivered a bowl of soup with a rather large cell phone protruding out of it. No one said a word for a lengthy enough time that Carl was able to peruse all of our faces and when he came to mine, he could tell I had something to say, but would be at war with my nature if I were to volunteer it. He asked me directly if I understood it and I admitted I did. “The artist is saying and maybe lamenting that cell phones are becoming as common as houseflies.” When pressed for more comment, I further admitted that it reminded me of a limerick from a Roald Dahl Book that I loved as a child. Well, Carl seized upon my admission immediately and asked for more. Resigning myself to what was happening I gave in and excitedly shared about the book and even recited the limerick from memory. I remember Carl smiling in surprise and agreeing with another classmate that they had never seen me like this before. Well, I was instantly embarrassed and full of regret about my actions of the prior few minutes, but he and the class were gracious and we all moved on in the lesson.
   Shortly after that day, Carl asked if I would consider being his TA. I was greatly surprised by his request, but accepted the assignment, gladly trading a dorm bathroom cleaning work study job for the restful, afternoon atmosphere of the Granberg offices twice a week.
   This TA work study job was mine through graduation and it rarely felt like work because it was in such a peaceful place. Carl had, arguably, the best office in the house. A corner room next to the kitchen, that looked out over the backyard through wide windows. To one of these windows, Carl had fashioned a squirrel feeder, onto which he would skewer an ear of dried corn. What fun it was to occasionally look up from my work editing on his computer to witness a gray, whiskered guest at the table, methodically removing rows of corn, kernel by kernel and stuffing them all into its cheeks until they were nearly bursting. Then quick as a wink and with a flash of bushy tail, the squirrel would disappear and I would get back to work.

   Carl and I had many conversations in his office, some about big things, but most about small. I see now how BIG the conversations about small things can actually be. One day I helped Carl wrestle the rug under the computer desk back to its original position. I was perplexed when he pointed out the few inches it had seemingly moved on its own underneath the weight of the desk and rolling computer chair. “But HOW did it do that?” I mused out loud.
   “Well the direction of the fibers of the rug and those of the carpet interact just the slightest bit with every step someone takes on it and over the course of time, the entire rug moves… Tiny, infinitesimal movements all added up to shift the direction it's going.”
   I was struck by his words at the time and they've stuck with me. A seemingly odd scenario to remember, but I appreciate the wisdom in those words and see the parallel in life of the impact of a thousand small decisions determining where we stand and the direction we are going.

   The morning after I got engaged to my husband, I went to Granberg to tell him the news. He was in a meeting with another student, but I broke character again and knocked, interrupting them (I knew she wouldn't mind). I excitedly told them both and he hugged me, happy to see me so elated and humbled he was on my list of people to tell. I don't think he realized how important he was to me then and I regret that I didn't or couldn't communicate that at the time.

   Carl was a lovely, thoughtful person and teacher from whom I learned so much in my time at NWC, his presence in my life doesn't feel coincidental at all, but rather that he was a mentor I needed at that place and time and he recognized and gladly stepped into that space for me. He saw something in me that most people didn't bother looking for beyond my quiet exterior. I learned things about myself during my work study hours and conversations with him.

   Carl was always a devoted cat person, at the time I knew him he had a beloved cat named Kairos, from the Greek: “to strike through an opening,” a clever name for a cat and doubly so for a professor of writing and rhetoric. I was profoundly blessed knowing Carl and I acknowledge the Kairos of the time in my life that I had the opportunity to know him. He offered so much to others and didn't hesitate at the opportunity to do so for me, too. I will miss him and treasure my memories of him always.

2. Bruce Vandermeulen December 29, 2025, at 2:27pm

   Its been many years since I've seen Uncle Carl. I have memories of the families visits in the summer, pulling up in the fully loaded van (gold or yellow if memory serves). We would gather and listen to the adventure behind, and the ones ahead. There was a sharing of photos back then, I believe they were all stored on individual slide cards. His stoic nature was something I always admired, a great example of someone to aspire to. Back then, he seemed to know everything there was to know. Butterfield Creek was known to me as "Carl's Creek", I suppose a testament to the amount of time he spent there. I may have found a frog or two there myself. The memories are distant now (and maybe somewhat inaccurate), but I am fond of the ones that remain. My condolences to all of the family.

3. Lisa Murray December 26, 2025, at 10:43am

   Carl was an amazing person! I was so glad to have known him. Our kids went to daycare together, and he was easy to visit with after daycare and in later years when our paths crossed. I am glad I got to celebrate his 80th birthday celebration with his family and him! I am so very sorry for your loss! Amy and Simon especially, I am thinking of you! I hope in time that good memories will ease your terrible pain! Lisa

4. Cheryl Peters Buxamusa December 20, 2025, at 9:31am

   I had known about Carl through his work with the Middleburg Press, publishing works of Dr. Stan Wiersma, and through my own one-on-one work with him when I was at Northwestern College, finishing my BA in English.

   During those class times, Carl would sometimes share stories about Stan Wiersma . Stan, (Sietske), was my father's first cousin, who I got to know in the years when he and his family were in the Netherlands due to Stan's Fullbright Scholarship at the University of Amsterdam.

   I was in awe of anyone who was mentored by Stan, namely Carl! Carl was always very humble about his connections, and I never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. He truly gave me encouragement in my own writing, and it is because of his mentoring that my own writing became better, but so did my teaching.

   Carl later told me on Facebook about his cancer diagnosis. I never once got the idea that he had changed his core beliefs. He had creativity and faith as a guiding star in his life. I could see the dichotomy of being ready, with not wanting to leave this life behind.

   My heart goes out to his present wife and son, and his former wife and children with this great loss. I look forward to seeing Carl again in Heaven, and I for one, know that he loved the Lord and the Lord loved him, too.

5. Ann Borgenheimer December 20, 2025, at 8:22am

   I was fortunate to meet Carl at pickleball which I started playing this summer. I was grateful I got to have Carl as my partner. He had a quiet, peaceful demeanor and loved to play pickleball as long as he could! He was an inspiration to all of us. You will be missed. I’m grateful I met such a wonderful human being. Thanks Carl for all the fun we had on the court.

6. Linda December 20, 2025, at 5:54am

   I met Carl through pickleball. We always enjoyed visiting between games. When I was in college English was not my favorite subject and I really struggled with poetry. Somehow Carl was able to get me engaged with his poems. He will be remembered and missed. My condolences to his family and friends.

7. Mike Yoder December 19, 2025, at 11:21pm

   Sincere and heartfelt condolences to all who knew and loved Carl. He was a gentle and caring soul, one who nurtured many students and friends with gentle nudges of support rather than stern demands. He will be remembered fondly but never replaced. .

8. Don Vander Meulen December 19, 2025, at 10:05pm

   My condolances

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