Jan (John) VandenBrink
May 2nd, 1933 ~ October 10th, 2024
Jan (John) VandenBrink went to be with Jesus on October 10, 2024.
He was born on May 2, 1933 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands to Dirk and Johanna (nee tenHove) VandenBrink the middle of five children.
His family had a bicycle shop in Apeldoorn, where they made their own bicycles under the trademark “Randstad” which is still registered to the family.
After the war his family decided to emigrate to Canada and arrived in Quebec City July 25, 1953. From there they traveled to Alberta by train and settled in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. They were going to try their hand at chicken farming, but John’s dad died tragically after being in Canada for only 6 months. With the help of the community and their strong faith, the family continued to live in Rocky where he eventually met his wife Jantje (Jean) (nee Brouwer) and they were wed on October 18, 1956.
He owned a real estate business in Rocky called John’s Rocky Agency with his brother Max. They had 5 children in Rocky and in 1967 John decided to explore a different vocation. He moved the family to Surrey BC where he went to Trinity Western University and later Western Washington University where he got a double degree, in Business and Social Work. He did many different jobs after his schooling but eventually taught computers at Kwantlen University until he retired. While in BC child number 6 joined the family.
They moved to Elim after retiring and were active in the community. John was busy holding classes for older people on how to turn on computers and iPads and he even did peoples taxes last year at 90 years old. Two months ago, they moved to assisted living.
John is survived by his loving wife Jean of almost 68 years, 6 children, 20 Grandchildren and 44 Great Grandchildren.
Linda (Edward) Kraay
Joanne (†) (John (†)) Visser
Carolyn (Marvin) JansenVanDoorn
Renee (Paul) Kastelein
Dwayne (Susan) VandenBrink
as well as numerous extended family and an abundance of friends.
A memorial Service will be held on Monday, October 21, 2024, at 2:00pm Surrey Covenant Reformed Church (17400-60th Avenue, Surrey B.C. V3S1T8) Please join us for light refreshments after the service.
The service will be live streamed on: surreycovenantreformedchurch.com
Internment will be held at a later date for immediate family.
Memorial donations in memory of John can be made to M2W2
Messages:
So sad to hear of Uncle John's passing. My Dad Tony liked to go visit him. He was kind and faithful.
So sorry to hear of the passing of John Vandenbrink. We will always remember him with fondness and be grateful that he was a dear friend and neighbor of our dad Kees Van Driel. Prayers for comfort and peace during this time of loss.
Nicest man. So kind and welcoming. My love to Jean and family.