It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Clasina Arnoldina Maria Schellekens (van Straaten). Clasina was born August 4, 1929 in Den Haag, The Netherlands, and passed away peacefully on February 4, 2024 in Surrey, BC, Canada.
Clasina is survived by her son Harold (Cynthia) and grandchildren, Pauline and Fen, and son-in-law Craig and grandson Kyle. She is predeceased by her loving husband, Anthony, and dear daughter Caroline, in addition to her parents, her brother Hubertus and sisters Jean and Tiny. She will be missed by many nieces and nephews and friends around the world.
Clasina was a teenager in the Netherlands during World War 2. This was a difficult time in her life - she lost her father and their home to bombing within a two-week period in 1945. We were always struck by how resilient Clasina and her family were as they moved forward after this terrible time.
In December 1963, Clasina took a leap of faith and moved to Canada where she started working as a bookkeeper. She met Anthony (also from the Netherlands) over coffee and this became an epic love story. However, Clasina still missed the Netherlands, and in 1965, she convinced Anthony to move back to marry and try living there for a while. Anthony preferred Canada but being in love, he agreed to try it and they did this before coming back to Canada for good in 1966!
Clasina, with her beloved Anthony, made their life in Canada. Anthony had many brothers and sisters living in BC and they were very kind and welcoming to Clasina. They bought a house in Richmond and Harold was born in 1966 and Caroline in 1968. In 1979, Anthony and Clasina bought property in Surrey and built their family home. Anthony retired in 1991 and they began an active and fun retirement period. Seeing Harold and Caroline find their wonderful life partners and start families of their own filled Clasina with joy.
Clasina kept strong close ties to the Netherlands. She loved when her relatives visited Canada and also had many opportunities to return to the Netherlands over the years with Anthony. A highlight was a big family trip back to the Netherlands in 2013, to show the grandchildren where Clasina and Anthony had grown up and to celebrate their wedding anniversary. We are so grateful for this time together.
Anthony passed away in 2020 and Caroline in 2022. The heartache of losing her partner and daughter was almost unbearable - she loved them so very much and missed them every day.
Clasina had an amazing life, with many wonderful experiences and some very difficult ones. She had a real zest for life, was positive and caring to those around her and made and kept friends so easily, including her last year spent at Fleetwood Villa in Surrey. She was a wonderful sister, wife, mother, aunt and friend to so many people. We will miss her forever.
The Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, February 16, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Matthew’s Church, in Surrey B.C. A reception will follow. The Funeral Mass will be live streamed for family and friends to join us remotely:
https://www.legacystreaming.com/kearney/