Living in a post-Second World War-torn Europe, opportunities were scarce, especially if your dream was to farm.
There was very little land to buy, especially land conducive to farming, and the farms that were viable were handed down for generations within families. It was not a place where “I want to be farmer” had much of a chance.
Across the Atlantic, a place like Canada offered a new beginning and a chance to make dreams come true.
With that goal in mind, Pieter, Auktje and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Ria Oosterhoff, boarded a Cunard White Star ship called the Georgic in Holland, bound for Canada on May 29, 1947.
After arriving in Halifax, the family continued their travel by train to their first destination in McBride, B.C.
In McBride, as was often the case with new immigrants, the family lived with another family, and Pieter found work in the lumber industry. It just wasn’t the place they actually wanted to settle.
So, with their adventurous spirit intact four years later, on April 1, 1951, they set off for a place they had been told was rife with prime farmland, the Bulkley Valley.
Like other immigrant families that came from the Netherlands, there were many people along the way, who helped to sponsor families from Holland, like “fieldmen” that lived in the area and were in charge of getting immigrants settled. They also helped the men find jobs and, along with the church’s support, found places for the families to live.
Jacob Prinz was one such “fieldman,” who helped Pieter find his first job and helped the family a great deal with the language and culture and customs of Canada. They maintained a “strong friendship for many years,” Pieter said.
When the family arrived in Smithers, they had their first home on Les Donaldson’s farm on Burnt Cabin Road, and Pieter worked for Les learning to saw logs and work in the mill.
They lived and worked happily on Les’s farm until they had saved enough money to buy their own farm on Round Lake in 1957.
The bond they had with their “sponsor” went beyond work as they had become friends. So when Pieter and Auktje bought the farm, Les gave them their first cow to get started. It is a friendship Pieter speaks of with a sense of deep gratitude.
By the time they bought the farm at Round Lake, their family was “complete and balanced, four girls, four boys. Balance is important,” Pieter said with a laugh.
The farm was hard work, seven days a week, and all the kids helped out. The farm grew and the family thrived. They added cows, and chickens, and sold eggs and milk locally for years in Smithers, where they made deliveries every Friday.
“Mom loved animals, so the farm included her ducks and rabbits,” said Ria.
Pieter said he was okay with all the animals, but only put his foot down when it came to having goats.
“No goats! They do nothing they are supposed to and everything that they are not supposed to,” he said with a laugh.
Eventually, they bought more land and had a big enough herd of cattle to start the dairy as a full-time business.
Not having started a dairy before, there were “many challenges and frustrations before it got going,” Pieter recalled.
“It was not an easy industry, with many codes and government regulations to get through, which was very frustrating.”
But he hung with it, made changes, adjusted, and the dairy took off and was a success.
Pieter and Auktje were living the dream they had always hoped for. Their family grew up working hard, had strong faith, and worked together to be successful, and Pieter said that was key for his children.
“They are smart, they handled money (I kept an eye of course), they worked every day, they made deliveries in the early days and then helped with the dairy and all it takes to keep animals and us going. I’m proud of them, they know what hard work is. They have the skills to survive, the farm gave them that, and religion kept them on the right track.”
As Pieter and Aukje grew older and thought of retiring, they passed the dairy to one of the boys, and the farm to another. They then subdivided to have a smaller place to have a garden and a few animals.
“Just enough to enjoy but not bother,” Pieter laughed.
Auktje lived to be 95 years old. At that time they had been married 71 years.
In 2012, they were blessed, he said, to have a whole family at a reunion to celebrate Pieter and Auktje’s 65th anniversary. Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were all able to attend.
The family gathered again this year on October 10th weekend to celebrate Pieter’s 100th birthday. Pieter said he didn’t want too much of a fuss, but it was nice to see everyone, and maybe a little cake.
For someone who has lived 100 years and was able to make his dreams come true, Pieter seems very content and grateful. He spends his days enjoying his dog Mia and visiting with family, and he loves to watch the birds just outside his window.
On having made it to 100 years old, Pieter just smiles with a glint in his eyes.
“I have lived a blessed life.”
