Johan Gerhard Wynands, 92, long time resident of Iroquois and Cardinal, passed into eternal life on Sunday, June 25, 2017, at Winchester District Memorial hospital.
Gerald was born in Odoorn Holland on September 13, 1924 to Johan Rudolf Wynands and Maria Gesina Schmitz. He was the third oldest of ten children, having seven brothers and two sisters.
He grew up not far from the German border and during WWII, he was sent to a labour camp in Germany in 1943, where he remained until liberated in 1945. After the war, he decided to leave home and moved to Canada in 1950.
He landed in Halifax and travelled on to Massawippi Quebec, where he had a job waiting for him on a dairy farm. After sixteen months there, he struck out on his own, moving to Prescott. After working on a farm there for a time, he bought a farm in a partnership north of Cardinal where his son John is still farming today.
On May 23, 1959, he married Anna vanBakelen, a widow with three children. He adopted her children, and they also had two children together. That year he also bought out his partner and became sole owner of the farm.
Gerald and Anna went on to farm together in Cardinal for 28 years before retiring to Iroquois in 1986.
They sold the farm to their youngest son, John, and enjoyed their retirement. By this time, all of his children were farming on their own places. Gerald loved dairy farming and had a life-long interest in the industry.
Gerald had a long and active retirement at his home in Iroquois.
Besides being involved with his growing family, he was a member of the Lions Club, the Knights of Columbus, the curling club, and the lawn bowling club.
He and Anna traveled widely, visiting family in both Canada and Holland, and taking tours all over Europe and North America. While at home they kept extensive flower beds, for which they won several community awards.
As their circle of friends grew older, Gerald was always willing to provide rides to doctor’s appointments and social events.
In December 2012 after fifty-three years of marriage his beloved Annie died and his own health started to decline. He took one last trip to Holland the following year and still attended family events as much as possible. He moved to Hartford Retirement Centre in 2016.
Ninety-two years is a long life which he lived well. He remained the core of his ever-growing family – 5 children, 23 grandchildren, and 28 great-grandchildren.
He was a good family man, good friend and neighbor and faithful to the Church. His was a life well lived. Gerald is survived by his children, Trudy (Bill) Whittaker of Lyndhurst, Adrian (Carol) of North Augusta, Edward (Janet) of Lyn, Maria (Gary) Ferguson of Jasper, John (Dawn) of Cardinal.
He is survived by his brother Ben (Ans) and sisters Trui and Truus all of Holland. He is also survived by sisters-in-law and numerous nieces and nephews in Holland.
Friends called at the Marsden McLaughlin Funeral Home in Iroquois on Wednesday, June 28. Mass of Christian Burial took place in St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church in Iroquois on Thursday, June 29th. Internment took place at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Cardinal. Pall bearers were his grandchildren Gerald, Christina, John, Ryan, Mark, Steven, Andrew and great-grandson Devin.