Hans Willem Van der Werff

April 29, 1929 - June 26, 2016

A gentle giant of a man has died.

Enduring the hardships of growing up in Nazi-occupied Holland during WW11, Hans van der Werff was captivated by the courage of the Canadian ‘Nova Scotia Highlanders’ who liberated his village of Boskoop. So, valuing freedom, girded by a strong sense of adventure and deep call to travel at the age of 24, he was on a ship to Canada where ultimately he travelled around the world as a mechanical engineer in the pulp and paper industry, married Rheanne Lavoie, raised a family (Christine, Glenn, Nina), became a proud Opa and Great-Opa, was sole caregiver to Rheanne, and in 2004, became a widower.

Discovering love anew, at the age of 80, he married June Maffin in 2009 in Duncan, B.C. and became a special friend to step-son, Tod Maffin. Hans’ new marriage began an adventure that brought him back to his childhood love of art and nurtured new life to his soul.

Fluent in five languages, Hans was a man who could build and fix anything. Whether it was designing paper and pulp machines, building houses or making raised flower beds, he was always ‘patanting’ something. He loved dogs, mason bee keeping, conversations, organ music, stained glass art, calligraphy, decorated envelope exchanges, tending his rose garden, pen and ink sketching, laughing and learning something new each day.

Hans had a spirit that was young, and a joie de vivre that was palpable to everyone he met. His smile was infectious, his love unconditional, and he modeled the vital connection between creativity and spirituality in his art, love and life. On June 26, 2016, his courageous battle with cancer ended, but his spirit lives on in his art, those he loved and those who loved him.

Photos of Hans' life and art can be found at www.soulistry.com/hans

A wonderful Celebration of Hans’ Life took place at Duncan United Church, 246 Ingram Street on Saturday, July 9th at 2:00 pm.

Rest in peace, Hans. Rest in peace.

Arrangements under the direction of First Memorial Funeral Services, Duncan, BC.