It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Nellie Vandergouwe, nee de Kraker, on October 13th/2021. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. Nellie was born September 26th/1930 in Hoek, Holland, she immigrated to Canada with her husband Martin in April 1955.
They moved west and eventually settled in St. Albert, Alberta where they raised their family.
Nellie was a professional seamstress and loved sewing for her clients and family. She was most passionate when creating beautiful and unique pieces from wedding and grad dresses to skating costumes for her daughters, which evolved to Halloween costumes for her grandchildren.
In 1994 Nellie and Martin retired to BC and spent the winters in Mexico. The summers were spent in Aldergrove where they loved to garden, walk and stay active.
After the passing of Martin, Nellie moved to Tsawwassen where she became active in the community by attending stretch and other classes at Winskill. When not at her classes you could find Nellie walking the dykes and gathering blackberries.
In the last few years, Nellie's health started to decline, where she made the move to Augustine House in Ladner. She made many new friends and found her second family.
Nellie struggled with her health the last few months and passed peacefully at Irene Thomas Hospice surrounded by her family.
She leaves behind her 3 children, James (Lisa), Andrea Parayko (Trent), and Miriam Luckow (Ross). As well as her grandchildren Lindsay (Andrew), Nicholas (Samantha), Kelly (Zac), Carly, Kyra (Harrison) and Kendra, and 4 great-grandchildren.
A Celebration of Nellie's life was held on October 19th/2021.
