It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend at the age of 97.
He will be greatly missed by his sons, Steven (Sherry), Theo (Mary Lou), daughter-in-law Pam, grandchildren, Juli (Joel), Jennifer (Jeremy), Sarah (Shane), Jon (Reagan), Andrew (Cassi), Katie, great grandchildren, Henrik, Danika, Lily, Zoe, Georgia, his brother, Hein (Metje) and sister Ann (John). John was predeceased by his wife of 70 years, Theresa (2025), son, Mike (2025), son, Jerome (1988), his parents, Stephanus and Elisabeth, siblings and other relatives in the Netherlands.
John was the oldest of his siblings and was born in Nieuwegein, Netherlands, where he met the love of his life, Theresa. He was stationed to Indonesia during his military service and then became a mechanic working on Cadillacs and Volkswagens in the Netherlands. He proposed to Theresa and they married on June 22, 1954. Steven, Theo and Jerome were all born in the Netherlands and the family relocated to Saskatoon where John worked for a VW dealership. Their youngest son, Mike was born and eventually they moved to Winnipeg, MB where John worked at Volkswagen of Canada. He then worked at St. James Volkswagen up until his retirement. John’s sons were his sole focus, he taught them how to build engines and how to fix anything with a little elbow grease. When he eventually retired, John and Theresa settled in Waldhof, then moved right next door to his son, Mike and wife Pam in Dryden ON.
John loved laughing at his wife’s stories and spending time with his boys. One of his favourite old memories was taking his young boys out fishing at Big River. Mike was a little too young, so he wasn’t allowed to have a hook, only a reel to “fish”. Theo ended up letting go of the rod and they had to spend a long-time fishing for that instead of for dinner. John laughed a lot that day. He took the kids to hockey games, stock car races, drag races, stampede wrestling, skiing, and going to Waskesiu for vacation every year. John and Theresa enjoyed their many outings over the years; cruises, trips to see the kids and grandkids, family weddings, trips to the beach and campsites. They never wanted to be a bother, and were so appreciative of anything anyone did for them. John was always happy go lucky, just wanted to spend time with his family.
John’s family would like to extend a huge thank you to the caring and dedicated staff and nurses at Princess Court for the great care in making him comfortable during his time there.
A Funeral Mass will take place on Wednesday April 1st at 10:30 am at the St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church followed by the burial at Dryden Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the DRHC- Oncology Dept. P.O. Box 3003 Dryden, ON P8N 2Z6
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Juli says
February 23, 2026 at 1:19 pmMy Grandfather was an amazing man. I remember his laugh so vividly. He had the best belly laugh.
A couple years ago I broke my hand and he asked if I could still drive. My response was “does a bear poop in the bush” he laughed for a solid 3 minutes on the phone.
My grandfather was competitive, not in a way that made it hard to play games, just that he worked hard for a win. He nearly played soccer professionally on the team in Holland. He could play pool and ping pong with the best of them.
My grandfather was intelligent. He was absolutely brilliant when it came to competition, motors, and how things worked. He could build anything seamlessly and it seemed to come so easy to him
Grandpa LOVED sweets. Boston Cream Donuts were his absolute favorite, along with anything my grandmother baked for him, and it was a lot. The freezer always had a plethora of baked sweet treats for everyone to enjoy.
Most of all my Grandfather was a family man. Loved his wife and kids. Later on with grandchildren and great grandchildren we all knew he loved to visit and spend time with us.
I am going to miss him so much.♥️
Theo DeRidder says
April 1, 2026 at 7:31 amA great father and example of how to be a godly man. He is missed and loved.