Tribute

Dirk Pater was born in Ede in the Netherlands. His family immigrated to Canada in 1948, arriving in Ontario where they lived for three years, then for two years in Quebec before coming to BC in 1953.

The Lord was a constant in Dirk’s life and through church activities he met Maaike and they were married May 23, 1958.  Over the years, especially in his early-married life he was actively involved with the church as a deacon, on the building and ground committee, bible studies and the choir.

Dirk and his wife Maaike were blessed with four children: Joanne, Elbert, Lynn and John, 12 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren and was looking forward to having another great-grandchild in the next few weeks.  He was hoping for many more in the near future.

Dad enjoyed the world God created, he had such a love for the outdoors and for him acreage was the way to go. He even bought a farm just before his wedding.  He took great pleasure in working on the farm.  If a person popped over for a visit and you couldn’t find him you just had to listen for the sound of his tractor…our GPS to finding him.  Although working on the farm was a great love of dad’s, a greater one was visiting, he always had time for company.  He loved people and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them.  He made friends very quickly and had a keen interest in everyone’s lives.

He took great pride in his grandchildren and then their children. He took them on tractor rides, taught them about God’s world, played games with them and made sure that he was at all of their different functions.  If Grandpa/Opa was invited, Grandpa/Opa went.  All of his ‘young folk’ had a special place in his heart; they will always remember the handshakes he gave with those big hands of his.

Dad loved to travel and experience many parts of the world.  His favorite was cruises to various places.  He loved the fact that you could eat all that you want, all day.  He still was talking about going across Canada and doing a 100-day cruise.  

Dad was always busy.  He simply enjoyed life best when he was on the go.  He started working as a teen at the New Westminster Coal Co, then to Fraser Mills.  He then became a truck driver and moved to Abbotsford.  In the early 80’s he decided to retire from trucking and try his hand at being ‘retired’ while hobby farming.  Years later he decided to try his hand at chickens and built a large chicken barn on their farm.  He loved being a part of the tight knit circle of the chicken industry and whenever you would visit with him he always informed you how his chickens were doing.  He continued to do this until the very end.

Dad was predeceased by his youngest sister in August of 1997 and by his grandson in November 2003.