Obituary of Geertruida VandenEngel
VANDENENGEL, Geertruida (Trudy)
Born on December 28, 1932 in The Netherlands, Trudy went to be with her Lord and Saviour, passing away peacefully with her family by her side, at Kingston Health Sciences Centre on Saturday, December 5, 2020 at the age of 87. Trudy was the loving wife of 64 years to Jan who predeceased her in 2019. Loving mother to Carol VandenEngel (Glenn Green), Nancy (Tim) Minnema, Paul (Denise) Vanden Engel, Irene (John) Hoekstra. Loving grandmother to Rachel (Letso), Paul (Jenna), Nicole, Joel, Mark, Alyssa (Nick), Steven (Tanisha), Luke, Lydia, Matthew (Lauren), Jessica (Brennan), and great- grandmother to Cameron, Brooklyn, Nicholas and Jack. Survived by siblings Gerrit (late Gerda), Frederica (late Jaap) and Karel. Predeceased by her parents Gerrit and Frederica (nee de Munnik) van Rossum and siblings Paulus (late Hennie), Grietje (late Pieter) and Leenerd (Bep).
Trudy and Jan started their life together in Canada after living through the second world war and immigrating to their new home. They began their new life as a happy young couple eager to start their own family, make new friends and learn a new language. Even though they settled in Kingston; they spent many adventures together travelling in their van to different parts of Canada and the United States. Trudy and Jan pruned ornamental trees in Florida and made many friends.
Trudy loved and took pride in her family including all of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Trudy had many friends and always welcomed them into her home with a “lekker cup of coffee” and a piece of “boterkoek.” Trudy took pride in her home. She was a homemaker and ran the business Western Landscaping with Jan. She took meticulous care of the business side of things and often only sat down to knit, sew, mend or eat a meal with Jan. She was always on the go, often putting others before herself.
Trudy had many talents! She used her incredible sewing skills to design gifts for people she loved and to create wardrobes for her children and grandchildren. She not only sewed her children's clothes; but designed them as well. She would design her patterns on newspapers and then create her masterpieces. She even created matching outfits for her grandchildren.
Trudy was a loving wife, mother, sister, aunt, oma, great oma, friend, and volunteer to many local organizations and within her church. Her giving nature and spirit is carried on within those that were close to her.
Trudy will be fondly remembered by numerous friends, relatives from afar, as well as her spiritual family at First Christian Reformed Church. The family extends sincere gratitude to the nursing staff at KHSC (Davies 4), with a special thank you to Tracy, as well as Tim De Jonge and Dan Brown for their spiritual guidance and the caring staff at James Reid Funeral Home.
The VandenEngel family will gather for a private service in the Chapel of the James Reid Funeral Home, 1900 John Counter Boulevard, on Thursday, December 10 with Pastor Dan Brown officiating. Interment will follow at Glenhaven Memorial Gardens. As an expression of sympathy donations may be made to Kingston Christian School or a charity of your choice.
Family and friends may attend the funeral service for Trudy via live-streaming.
