Remembering our roots – Gerrit & Rene van Doorn

Times Contributor

 

Gerrit (Gerry) and Rene were born in Holland on December 28, 1920 and August 18, 1926, respectively. Gerry was born in Rotterdam, and Rene was born in Voorburg. After Rene spent five gruesome war years, enduring continuous bombing of The Hague by the Allies, and her brothers hiding underground from forced labour in Germany, peace was a godsend. When she and a girlfriend attended a party in a restaurant in The Hague in June of 1946, she saw a tall handsome man leaning against a post on the dance floor. She told her girlfriend that this man was hers, and before the night was over, she and Gerry had become good friends! It was love at first sight, and they were married five months later, in November.

Gerry was conscripted on November 1939, and originally posted to coastal artillery, before being moved to the Dutch/German border. When the Germans overran Holland, Gerry arrived, via Belgium and France, in England on June 11. He served the rest of the war in England until January 7, 1942, when he was moved to the Far East, India and Ceylon, to be posted to the 321 Dutch Squadron Catalinas at Trincomalee, after which he returned home on January 18, 1946. Gerry then volunteered for the Dutch Intelligence, HQ 7th December Division in Batavia. On November 26, he asked Rene if she would wait from him to come back, and she said “NO.” 

So, they were married the next morning, and Gerry left for Indonesia later that same day. Originally, he had agreed to complete a three-year term, but because of errors in his paperwork, made by the divisional office as well as the politics of the time, he was permitted to return to Holland after only six months!

This marriage produced two children – Irene (Knappe) and Frank. Their names mean ‘Peace and Freedom.’ 

Irene’s marriage to Guy  provided Gerrit and Rene with four grandchildren (two sets of twins), nine great- grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. Frank is married to Susan and though they have no children, they live on a farm with eight Malamute dogs, a Jack Russell Terrier and two horses.

Following the war, Gerry was employed in the Archives Dept with the War Restoration Bank in Holland for 12 years. Rene was busy bringing up her family, and being a homemaker.

Gerrit and Rene moved to Calgary in 1958, where Gerry worked for CP Rail, at the Alyth Yards, for the next 27 years. They bought a house in Acadia, on a corner lot, and being from Holland, their garden was always full of flowers. Gerry was an avid fisherman, and spent many hours fishing the Bow River. He was involved with an Angler’s Club in Holland, and recently invited members of that club to come to Calgary, where they too enjoyed the fruits of the Bow River. He advises this river was a great fishing river back in the 50’s and 60’s, but is now being affected by all the industrial pollution. 

After Gerry’s retirement from CP Rail, they moved to Victoria, B.C. but found house prices very expensive, so they decided to drive north on Vancouver Island. They’d visited Nanaimo on a previous trip, but this time continued north to Qualicum Beach, where they found a house under construction. The builder turned out to be another Dutchman from Rotterdam. After purchasing this house, they stayed there for 22 wonderful years. In 2008, they moved to Strathmore to be closer to their family, and now live on a farm, on the Nightingale Road next to Irene and Guy.

Gerrit and Rene were both very involved with the Senior’s Centre at Qualicum Beach and the Royal Canadian Legion. They cannot believe the welcome they received when they transferred to Legion #10 here in Strathmore, and they have found their acceptance in Strathmore overwhelming.

Gerry continues to read Dutch newspapers online, which show that the creation of The European Union has not improved life in Europe, rather it has provided new routes for those with criminal intent, to break the rules.

Both Gerry and Rene are very pleased that they made the decision to move to Canada all those years ago. They’ve had a wonderful life here.