Tony passed peacefully on September 3, 2020, six years to the day after the passing of his eldest daughter, Diane. He is survived by his beloved Diny, his children Bill (Kendy McMillan), Tony (Mary-Lou Stanley), Marian (Rob Parrish), Rob (Deb Intas) and Fran (Dean Schwartz). Opa will be sorely missed by grandchildren Tom, Kirsten, Tanya (Serge DiPenta), Brent (Dagny), Richard (Angela), Chris, Caitlin, Evan Stephanie, Eric and Emily, and great-grandchildren Andrew, Emma, Ryan, Hazel, Leo, Jack and Zoey.
Born in the Netherlands, he came to Canada in 1952. He returned to the Netherlands for a family visit and got engaged to Diny. Diny followed Tony one year later and married August 19th, 1954 in Cloverdale, BC. Tony and Diny raised their six children on a small farm in Richmond BC. In 1971, Tony and Diny built their first greenhouse and began a successful family business. Tony then became an advocate for the greenhouse industry and was instrumental in establishing the Greenhouse Growers Association as well as BC Hothouse.
Tony will be most remembered for his strong family values, a great believer in following your passion, expressing his love and pride of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He will be deeply missed by family and friends.
The family has requested donations to the BC Kidney Foundation in lieu of flowers.
*Private family service will be held*