Obituary for Bernardus "Ben" J. VanderGriendt
VANDERGRIENDT, Bernardus (“Ben”) (December 27, 1928 – October 9, 2022) -
Our community lost a pillar on Sunday, October 9th. Just shy of his 94th birthday, Dad went to be with Mom (Agnes Theodora (Thiesen) VanderGriendt (August 4, 2013), his wife of 61 years. Born in Rotterdam, Holland, to his late parents Hendricus (“Henry”) and Johanna (nee Volking) VanderGriendt, he served in the Dutch army as part of the peace keeping mission in Indonesia. After his return to Rotterdam, a city in ruins, he followed the footsteps of his two older brothers and immigrated to Canada in 1951. He was twenty-three years old.
He provided for his family working for farmers in the Thamesville area. In the spring of 1955 he landed a job with “The Co-Op” his lifelong employer. Our family moved to Tillsonburg in 1963 where the last of the 8 children was born; he retired at age 65. It was then that Dad got the travel bug; first stop - a road trip to Alaska because he “always wanted see what the he!! was up there”. With Mom in the passenger seat and Dad behind the wheel they also clocked thousands of miles as volunteer drivers for Children’s Aid. They provided emergency foster care to over 20 children in need after raising eight children of their own: Berdine (Dale) Hurley, Francine (Scott) Ledbury, John (Marianne), Charley (Torry Tanner), Mary Ann (Kent) Ratcliffe, Denise (Shane) Johnston, Carol (Mark) Rothenberg, and daughter-in-law Janet (late Henry, 2015).
Ben served several terms as a trustee on the Roman Catholic School Board, was a long-time driver for the Tillsonburg and District Multi-Service Centre, and Opa extraordinaire to Mike (Ronda) Hurley, Melissa (Ryan) Kosir, Carolyn (Shawn) MacDonald, Laura (Jasper) Belding; Emily (Dave) Adams, Dave V., Greg V., Ben (Jenny) V.; Tamara VanderGriendt (Matt Davis), Jay (Heather) V., Kyle (Lisa) Ledbury, Kelsey (Robert) Ledbury; Matt (Melissa) V., Carly (Simon) V., Lauren (Alex) Rollinson; Dan (Janelle) V., Tim (Kait) V., Sarah V.; Ethan Ratcliffe, Alexander Ratcliffe (2000), Colin Ratcliffe; Brandon Johnston, Jake Johnston; Ken Rothenberg, Christopher Rothenberg, Amanda Rothenberg, (25 in total).
His woodshop and fix it skills are far too many to list but suffice it to say that the marble game is a treasured childhood memory for great-grandchildren Rylin, Brinley, Bryelle; Alice; Isla, Miles, Elliot; Holden, Connor, Kayla; Sawyer, Dominic, Alyssa, Aliva, Nora; Miami; Bryson and at last count, two more on the way.
The VanderGriendt family will hold visitation on Friday, October 21st, 2022, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel at the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes – Burial and Cremation Services Inc., 262 Broadway Street, Tillsonburg. A Funeral Mass to honor the life of a wise, selfless and determined (a.k.a. stubborn) Dutchman will be held on Saturday, October 22nd, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s R.C. Church, 51 Venison St. West, Tillsonburg, by Rev. Fr. Seejo John.
To view a memorial video which has been created to honour Ben, please copy and paste the below link into your internet browser bar:
https://youtu.be/9KaNj5au0Hk
Interment will take place at a later date, St. Michael’s R.C. Cemetery, Ridgetown.
He wasn’t much for flowers and would rather that a donation be made in his memory to the "Childrens’ Aid Society"… or the charity of your choice. Donations, messages, memories and photos can be shared via Ben’s online tribute page at www.verhoevefuneralhomes.com or by contacting the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes, Tillsonburg at (519) 842-4238.
His last words to us were, “I love ALL of you”.
To that we simply reply, “Thanks for the call Dad. THANKS, for the call”.
Our community lost a pillar on Sunday, October 9th. Just shy of his 94th birthday, Dad went to be with Mom (Agnes Theodora (Thiesen) VanderGriendt (August 4, 2013), his wife of 61 years. Born in Rotterdam, Holland, to his late parents Hendricus (“Henry”) and Johanna (nee Volking) VanderGriendt, he served in the Dutch army as part of the peace keeping mission in Indonesia. After his return to Rotterdam, a city in ruins, he followed the footsteps of his two older brothers and immigrated to Canada in 1951. He was twenty-three years old.
He provided for his family working for farmers in the Thamesville area. In the spring of 1955 he landed a job with “The Co-Op” his lifelong employer. Our family moved to Tillsonburg in 1963 where the last of the 8 children was born; he retired at age 65. It was then that Dad got the travel bug; first stop - a road trip to Alaska because he “always wanted see what the he!! was up there”. With Mom in the passenger seat and Dad behind the wheel they also clocked thousands of miles as volunteer drivers for Children’s Aid. They provided emergency foster care to over 20 children in need after raising eight children of their own: Berdine (Dale) Hurley, Francine (Scott) Ledbury, John (Marianne), Charley (Torry Tanner), Mary Ann (Kent) Ratcliffe, Denise (Shane) Johnston, Carol (Mark) Rothenberg, and daughter-in-law Janet (late Henry, 2015).
Ben served several terms as a trustee on the Roman Catholic School Board, was a long-time driver for the Tillsonburg and District Multi-Service Centre, and Opa extraordinaire to Mike (Ronda) Hurley, Melissa (Ryan) Kosir, Carolyn (Shawn) MacDonald, Laura (Jasper) Belding; Emily (Dave) Adams, Dave V., Greg V., Ben (Jenny) V.; Tamara VanderGriendt (Matt Davis), Jay (Heather) V., Kyle (Lisa) Ledbury, Kelsey (Robert) Ledbury; Matt (Melissa) V., Carly (Simon) V., Lauren (Alex) Rollinson; Dan (Janelle) V., Tim (Kait) V., Sarah V.; Ethan Ratcliffe, Alexander Ratcliffe (2000), Colin Ratcliffe; Brandon Johnston, Jake Johnston; Ken Rothenberg, Christopher Rothenberg, Amanda Rothenberg, (25 in total).
His woodshop and fix it skills are far too many to list but suffice it to say that the marble game is a treasured childhood memory for great-grandchildren Rylin, Brinley, Bryelle; Alice; Isla, Miles, Elliot; Holden, Connor, Kayla; Sawyer, Dominic, Alyssa, Aliva, Nora; Miami; Bryson and at last count, two more on the way.
The VanderGriendt family will hold visitation on Friday, October 21st, 2022, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel at the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes – Burial and Cremation Services Inc., 262 Broadway Street, Tillsonburg. A Funeral Mass to honor the life of a wise, selfless and determined (a.k.a. stubborn) Dutchman will be held on Saturday, October 22nd, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s R.C. Church, 51 Venison St. West, Tillsonburg, by Rev. Fr. Seejo John.
To view a memorial video which has been created to honour Ben, please copy and paste the below link into your internet browser bar:
https://youtu.be/9KaNj5au0Hk
Interment will take place at a later date, St. Michael’s R.C. Cemetery, Ridgetown.
He wasn’t much for flowers and would rather that a donation be made in his memory to the "Childrens’ Aid Society"… or the charity of your choice. Donations, messages, memories and photos can be shared via Ben’s online tribute page at www.verhoevefuneralhomes.com or by contacting the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes, Tillsonburg at (519) 842-4238.
His last words to us were, “I love ALL of you”.
To that we simply reply, “Thanks for the call Dad. THANKS, for the call”.