Tribute

It is with profound sadness that the family of Willy Van Rietschote announces her peaceful passing with her family by her side. Willy was born in The Hague, Holland, and along with her young family, immigrated to Canada in 1957. Life was not easy in the beginning, but because of our parents’ love for each other and their adventurous spirit, the family thrived. As the grandchildren started school mom became a volunteer “Oma” in the classroom and continued in this role even when all four grandchildren had graduated high school. Mom was lovingly known as Oma to countless numbers of school children, whom she loved dearly. For many years, even after she stopped volunteering she would still get a hug or a “Hi Oma!” from adults who now had school children of their own. Willy leaves to mourn her loving husband John and her children Astrid Radcliffe (Frank) and Margaret Panek (Mike). She also leaves behind her four grandchildren Josh, Hayley, Michael and Ashley, and seven great grandchildren Alison, Jonah, Benson, Emma, Austynn, Amira and Andrik. The family would like to thank Dr. Rossouw for his loving care of mom. Also, a special thanks to the fourth floor nursing staff; every one of you is an absolute angel. We can’t go without also saying thank you to the best neighbours our parents were fortunate to have around them: Dorothy, Joan, Suzanne, Larry and Pat. These wonderful people constantly checked on mom and dad, brought food and were always there to help in any way.

We will love you forever, Mom and Oma.