FRANK VAN KEMENADE

Obituary

Passed on

October 29, 1922 – July 8, 2018     It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Frank van Kemenade, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Frank passed away peacefully on July 8, 2018, aged 95, at Rosewood Lodge Personal Care Home in Stonewall. Frank was born to Peter and Maria van Kemenade on a small farm near Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in October 1922, the third of six children. As a child growing up in Europe between the wars Frank kept rabbits. pigeons, and sheep and his love of farming was born. As a teenager he became involved with a local Young Farmers Club and attended agricultural college. All that remained was to buy a farm but in those difficult years that was a virtual impossibility because of the lack of land available in Holland at that time. In the late 1940s Frank met his future wife Christine and together they began a long and fruitful life together that would last more than 60 years. Together they planned a new life away from post-war Europe where they could realize Frank’s dream of farming. In March of 1954 that dream was fulfilled when they emigrated to Canada, arriving with two small children and another on the way. Life in Canada was hard to begin with. Frank began work on a mink farm in Stony Mountain and it took two years before he was able to afford a shared purchase of 60 acres of land near Stonewall with another immigrant family. It took years of toil, working construction jobs alongside the farm work, keeping minks, chickens, and later dairy cattle, but eventually the family, now with five children, were able to move up and in 1967 purchased a larger dairy farm near Grosse Isle. All of the hard work paid off and the farm was a success. In 1982, after selling the farm to son Bernie, Frank and Christine were able to retire and so began the final chapter of their lives. They became snow birds and spent contented winters in Arizona alongside many old and new friends. Back in Canada they saw their own kids become parents and rejoiced in their new role as Opa and Oma. They loved to visit with the good friends they made in Canada and started to return to Holland to visit family and friends there. During his entire life, Frank was actively involved in the Catholic church, supporting his fellow parishioners and local community and helping others whenever he could. Trustworthy, loyal, honest, hardworking, family orientated, these terms describe Frank. The world is a poorer place without him. May God rest his soul. Frank was pre-deceased by his loving wife Christine in March 2014. He leaves to mourn his passing, sons Peter (Pam), Bernie (Sharon), Willy (Cathie), Leon (Gracie), and daughter Marilyn (Randy). Also left to mourn their Opa are grandchildren Kim and Kelly, Rhys, Lane, and Burke, Saskia and Christian, Jennifer, and great-grandchildren Jake, Madden, Beck, and Hayden. The family would like to thank all the staff at Rosewood Lodge Personal Care Home and the Stonewall Health Care Center as well as the Home Care staff at Lions Manor for the care given to Frank in the final months. A private family mass and interment will take place at a later date.

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