“Whenever you give, you get it back”
By Jeff Kurowski | For On Mission
Photography by Scott Eastman
BELLEVUE — Larry Van Rite’s eyes well up and his emotions flow as the words come out. He’s shared his “miraculous” story of survival at the hands of God many times with individuals and small groups. He said that he feels obligated to do so in hopes of helping others strengthen their faith.
“I can’t get up in front of a large group and tell it,” said Van Rite, a member of Prince of Peace Parish, Green Bay (Bellevue). “I would give anything if I could get up in church and tell that story, but I just can’t (due to his emotions).”
In June of 2020, Van Rite was working at Holy Martyrs of Gorcum Cemetery in the town of Humboldt. His family history at Holy Martyrs of Gorcum Parish goes back 120 years. Van Rite has served as a volunteer caretaker at the cemetery for several years.
In 2004, Holy Martyrs Parish and Holy Trinity Parish, Pine Grove, merged to form Prince of Peace Parish.
“We were digging a walking path,” said Van Rite. “I was going to make a path — five feet wide — with the Bobcat, cutting through the grass. We wanted to put gravel down, I had the blade down and I hit (a gravestone) and pushed it up.”
The stone was small. Van Rite didn’t want it to get lost, so he brought it home. The engraving on the stone read “Bernard Kriescher, 1910-1916.”
Through research and later through contact with relatives of the Kriescher family, Van Rite learned about the life and death of Bernard. He even received photos from family members in North Dakota.
“He had drowned,” said Van Rite. “There was a spring flood in June (1916). He and his brother (Carl, age 8) went out to get the cows home. The (Preble Creek) bank gave way. Both went in. Carl tried to save Bernard, but couldn’t. He was able to pull himself out. They found Bernard a mile away.”
Van Rite reset the gravestone in concrete and placed it at the foot of the graves of Bernard’s parents, Joseph and Mary.
“I put Bernard’s stone back on Christmas Eve (day, 2020),” said Van Rite. “I said, ‘Well, Bernard, here you are. Everybody forgot about you.’ I prayed an Our Father and a Hail Mary. I said, ‘Rest in peace, Bernard’ and ‘You owe me one.’”
A week later, on New Year’s Eve, Van Rite worked out at a local health facility.
“I run on the treadmill,” he said. “I go at (5 a.m.) in the morning. At around 6 a.m., I broke out in a cold sweat. I took some aspirin.”
His wife, Marcy, told him he needed to go to the hospital. Their son, Lee, picked him up and drove at a high speed to the emergency room.
“They put me in a wheelchair and brought me to a room,” said Van Rite. “They told me to put this gown on. I got my shirt half off, and it was lights out.”
A piece of calcium (plaque) had come loose from the artery wall and had blocked the blood flow to Van Rite’s heart. He flatlined. Medical personnel did chest compressions and then shocked him with paddles. A stent was then inserted in the artery, which returned blood flow to his heart.
“They shocked me 14 times,” he said. “Amazingly, I didn’t have any damage. There was a period of almost 12 minutes with no heartbeat. The blood started to move and my arteries all started opening. The only side effect was I chewed off parts of my tongue.”
Van Rite said he believes that he had another
guardian angel that day.
“I think Bernard paid me back,” he said. “I remember standing at heaven’s door. It was bright, it was beautiful, peaceful, no sound. It looked like a fresh snowflake. I told God, ‘I know what it is to go to the light. I love my family, and they love me. I don’t want to go. I want to go back. I want 20 solid years.”
Van Rite was 66 at the time of his cardiac emergency.
“Eight-six is long enough,” he said with a laugh. “I can do a lot of stuff, help family, help people.”
Van Rite also recalls hearing his son, Lee, praying in the hospital room.
“It was the power of prayer,” said Van Rite. “Everybody heard him. Nobody quit. They never gave up (at the hospital). They kept going. It’s phenomenal. It was 100 percent God.”
He was told that he had a one percent chance of surviving without lasting health issues. Van Rite has experienced no effects since.
“My doctor keeps telling me to tell my story because ‘God helped me and helped our team that day’” said Van Rite.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that were in place at the time, Van Rite’s family was allowed to see him in the hospital on the day of the emergency. He and Marcy have five children and 16 grandchildren, all of whom live within five miles of their home in Bellevue. All are members of Prince of Peace Parish.
The Van Rite home; his business, Larry Van Rite Trucking; and his son Lee’s business, Van Rite Plumbing, are all located on the homestead that has been in his family for 118 years. His family was always involved in the church, starting at Holy Martyrs Parish, he said.
“I was born and raised on the farm,” he said. “That’s the way we grew up (with faith). There was no such thing as taking off a Sunday. You went to church. My grandma on my mom’s side (Marie DeGrave) lived with us. She was the (matriarch). She was the example of faith.”
Van Rite’s faith was previously strengthened during a 2004 encounter. In June of that year he read about officers from the Brown County Sheriff’s Department saving a woman on the Leo Frigo Bridge.
“Sadly, that bridge had been known for a few suicides,” said Van Rite. “I was fascinated by the story. I said to God, ‘Hey, if you put me in that position, I think I could do that. I think I could help someone.”
Three months later, he had the opportunity. Van Rite was driving a dump truck when he saw a woman walking on the bridge. He pulled over.
“She got on the edge and threw her legs over the side,” he said. “Her legs were dangling. I grabbed a hold of her and pulled her over. We were sitting there and everybody’s going 70 miles per hour. Others then stopped to help me hold her, and the police arrived.”
Van Rite offers a faith lesson from that experience.
“If you ask God for something, put yourself in a position to give,” he said. “Give back.”
Van Rite, who also does crop farming, gives back to the church and the community.
“We do concrete,” he said. “Every piece of outdoor concrete at Prince of Peace Church, we poured it all. We support the VFW (in Bellevue) and other organizations. We give as a family.”
“Whenever you give, you get it back,” said Van Rite. “I’m a firm believer of that.”