Hans passed away peacefully at the Point Grey Private Hospital, Vancouver B.C. Canada, located beside Kitsilano Beach & Pool. A memorable and historic location he got to enjoy about 6 months wheeling around with his youngest son James over the longer then usual summer that held out seemingly just for him as it so often seemed to be well timed with the weather (particularly when flying). Veronika was also there for him at the most difficult time of being alone after Rosalie passed away and so he enjoyed immensely spending time with them sipping wine and watching the grandkids have fun.
Predeceased by his father Joachim, mother Elizabeth originally named Jellima from Netherlands or Frisian, and stepmother Helen of German descent. His sister Brigette is still residing in the nearby town Kelowna. Where they would often meet during summer vacations in the area over the years prior to retirement, which was spent wintering in the areas of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. Their winter place was in Bucerias, which is just north of there. Then enjoyed retirement together and with many other friends over the years, and also some in that area. For instance an old friend he has known since he was about 14 in South America Bob agreed this was a good place too and lives only two blocks away on the beach there in Bucerias.
For 63 years Hans was a devoted caring and supportive husband to his wife Rosalie (Marston) and supportive father to his three surviving sons to the end. There are six grandchildren, four girls and two boys. The two boys are also the eldest and youngest at ages 21 and 10 at the time of his passing.
Hans was born in Paramaribo Dutch Guiana, Suriname and grew up in or near Caracas Venezuela as part of a German farm management family that spent time in a prison camp there during the war. He learned Spanish early then and used it more in retirement in Mexico too, then the other languages he spoke except what became his fourth and main language English of course. Hans came to BC first and went to UBC and became a professional engineer. Eventually his Father came up to Canada as well to create and run Falkland Ranch in BC, as a partnership with family friends the Blooms who kept in touch over the years but stayed in Brazil. The ranch here grew mostly grass for cattle feed. In South America it was Coconuts and even soap was made from the oil, but it was the mangrove sourced honey bee’s nectar that was bottled up and sent to Europe for a premium.
Early days of working down in South America they would dig a swimming pool with bare hands and shovels, or here in BC he started working on the paving crews doing BC’s highways. It was an early job his best friend helped him get, which made him a guy with a few dollars in his pocket early on. Bryce Meausette, his best friend, was a highschool auto-mechanic teacher from Vernon, who was born here and loved the outdoors and showed Hans around in some ways.
He showed up at UBC in full denim and cowboy hat and stood out. At a ‘do’ arranged to welcome new students, he met his wife to be Rosalie Marston, who was born and raised in Vancouver with her sister Sylvia. She eventually lived in Colorado most of her adult life, but the three of them did all kinds of things together in BC in the 60s before moving on with raising families.
Many people welcomed Hans and helped him to gain citizenship and join the Canadian melting pot, from John McDonald a fellow UBC Engineer who also helped him get work, to those that sponsored his character for citizenship.
Although he did not have hobbies he was a “dreamer” and liked to daydream when dozing off. He was doing a lot more of that near the end but I suppose increasingly over the years before as he was not able to experience the kinds of activities normally available to the elderly when not living through a pandemic. Besides daily afternoon outings to walk at the seawall or parks like at Jericho and have coffee at one of many favorite coffee shops, mornings were spent alone peacefully resting in an easy chair with a good view and daydreaming what was going on around the vista and world each day.
As an engineer Hans worked on many large scale construction projects. Ranging from mile long conveyor belts and tailings pit dame for the mascot gold mine, bridges or rapid transit line, Ekati Diamond Mine, or later in life his final project was to live in Chicago to work on a billion dollar natural gas pipeline processing plant. His otherwise unseen contributions are felt by millions in North America.
The family would like to thank all the staff at Point Grey Private Hospital, UBC and VGH for the care given to Hans and their kind support to the family.
A private Celebration of Life will have been organized at the end of February.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer Society or the BC Cancer Foundation .