Born in Nymegen, Netherlands and passed away peacefully in Vancouver, on June 1, 2020 at the age of 88 yrs.
Predeceased by his wife Johanna in 2017 and his four siblings. Lovingly survived by his daughters, Brigitte and Yvonne, grandchildren Carmen, Maya (Jon), Kayla (Erik), Jeremy, Isabel and Cameron, great grandson Gio, sister Joke and many relatives in the Netherlands and Australia. Funeral Mass was held on June 8, 2020 at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish with interment at Gardens of Gethsemani.
My Dad
My Dad, Nico de Vos, was born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands in 1932, the youngest of six children. He was a young boy during the occupation of Holland by the Nazis in World War II. He was profoundly affected by this experience. As many people who live through hard times, he was kind, generous, and compassionate. He was hard working, resourceful, and frugal. He could fix anything and never wasted anything. He developed a very quick wit and his sense of humour never failed him. He would crack jokes with complete strangers and turn them into friends in an instant. He loved to play small practical jokes on people, like moving the cleaning lady’s cloth every time he passed her cart in the hallway at his residence. He kept a saying on his fridge: “Love many, trust few, learn to paddle your own canoe!”, and he always told people to ‘keep in touch with the Dutch”.
He loved to draw and took up painting in a prolific way in his early retirement. He painted mostly landscapes in oil, some watercolours. He loved nature and never tired of watching documentaries about wildlife, space, and his favourite subject, World War II. He always made little drawings on birthday cards, and in recent years he would make a daily drawing on his nitro patch stickers or request that the care aides make one for him, then critique it. Like most Dutch people, he was very direct. You always knew where you stood with him.
Nico was adventurous. Once he found the love of his life, my Mom, he emigrated to Australia with his brother, Jacques, and his wife, Rikie. Mom and Dad first worked at a ski resort in Mount Buffalo, and judging by the photographs they did a lot of partying there. After starting their family with two daughters, Nico and Johanna emigrated to Canada. My Dad began work for the Bentall Group as a stationary engineer, managing the heating and cooling systems in the Bentall Towers in downtown Vancouver. He attended night school to upgrade his qualifications, while working full time and raising a young family.
Nico loved music, especially Big Band and Dixieland jazz, Louis Armstrong, Engelbert Humperdinck, as well as Dutch music of course. He had an extensive collection of records, Cd’s, and cassettes that he often played. He would sing to us when he tucked us in at night, The Beatles, All My Loving, “ Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, tomorrow I’ll miss you…”
Nico liked to travel. He went to India, Alaska, Ottawa, New Brunswick, Las Vegas, California, Hawaii, Belgium, France, and Germany. He returned to the Netherlands to visit family many times, and took us camping all over BC. He lived a long and fruitful life, blessed with six grandchildren, whom he adored. He was always supportive and helpful to family and friends alike. Together with Johanna he built his life on a foundation of faith in the Cathollic church, which got them through many difficult times and helped them celebrate the joyful ones. He passed his faith on to his family through the example of living it fully in his daily life. I am blessed to have had my Dad as a friend and father, grateful for all the gifts he shared with me, and I love him with all my heart. May he rest in peace with my Mom and the angels.
Yvonne
Dear friends and family,
I give you this poem by John O'Donohue, to contemplate, as comfort and hope. Thank you for your cards, condolences, prayers and flowers, it is very much appreciated, especially to know that he was so dearly loved.
With Love,
Brigitte
On The Death Of The Beloved
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul's gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
John O'Donohue