OBITUARY
John Vogelzang
October 21, 1949 – January 30, 2019
Mr. John Vogelzang of Lacombe, AB, passed away surrounded by his loving family on January 30, 2019, at age 69. After a brief struggle with cancer, he was called home to be with his Lord and Saviour.
John’s immediate family immigrated from the Netherlands in the early 1950s, moving first to Rocky Mountain House, then eventually settling in Barrhead, Alberta. He was grateful for the opportunities available to his family in Canada, and the sense of security his family felt after having survived World War Two. He spent his youth fishing and playing hockey on the Paddle River, being the class smart aleck, and working as a gas jockey at Harvey’s White Rose before graduating from high school. John continued his formal education to receive a diploma in Hospital Organization and Management, a degree in Health Services Administration, and become a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
John articled for Sax, Zimmel, Stewart & Co. in Barrhead while working toward his Chartered Accounting designation. He then moved to Edmonton and worked for Revenue Canada; he occasionally feared for his life while staying in sketchy, remote motels, and once he was referred to as a “hippie scab” when ordered to leave an angry client’s property. After that he briefly worked as an internal auditor at the University of Alberta hospital, and then started with the Hospital Services Commission, where he travelled and completed assessments at smaller hospitals. John returned to Barrhead and became the Business Manager at the local hospital, and was then promoted to Assistant Administrator. A move to Lacombe followed, where he took on the role of Hospital Administrator two months after his 30th birthday. Next, he joined the David Thompson Health Region as its Vice-President, an organization he led soon afterward as its President & Chief Executive Officer. The Government of Alberta restructured all regional health authorities in 2008, and John subsequently enjoyed over 10 years of retirement.
John was a dynamic extrovert, and absolutely adored people. He had an encyclopedic memory for personal details, and would routinely spend 45 minutes chatting with someone he encountered while running errands. John loved to talk to children who thought he was Santa Claus when he recently experimented with a longer beard, as well as teenagers who admired his Big Bang Theory inspired t-shirt emblazoned with the punchline “Bazinga.” He also recognized not everyone was afforded the same good fortune in life. Consequently, John personally financially supported a variety of organizations, causes and events such as A Better World, Canadian Cancer Society, CNIB, the Dr. Murray Martin Speaker Series, Festival of Trees, Nature Conservancy of Canada, SPCA, Ten Thousand Villages, United Way, the Vogelzang Family Fund, and many others. He gave employees opportunities for professional development commensurate with their efforts and talents, and valued character as much as credentials, mentoring several individuals along the way. John was unfailingly generous with his time, energy, and expertise, and gave people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. He was a sounding board for people facing both professional and personal challenges, and believed in demonstrating leadership through action. That’s why John attended Pine Lake in the immediate aftermath of the deadly tornado, assessed in person how the Red Deer River flooding could threaten healthcare provision within the communities of Drumheller and Sundre, and served several annual hot turkey dinners — not turkey roll! — to hospital staff working during the Christmas statutory holiday.
Some of the simplest things in life were among John’s greatest pleasures; sitting around a campfire and gazing at the stars, everything to do with the bright Alberta sunshine, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, and hiking Cape Split in Nova Scotia with his daughter Jody. His favourite travel destinations included Hawaii, Arizona, Jasper, AB, Newfoundland, and British Columbia for the annual Labour Day Weekend golf trips with the motley crew of usual suspects. John also loved to eat; among his favourite foods were steak, his wife Casey’s spaghetti, his daughter Kristy’s chocolate chip cookies, Denise’s roast beef, and Sadie’s lemon meringue pie. John treasured his family’s pets, most notably Libby, his beloved black Labrador Retriever and walking companion. He also cherished feeding blue jays and hummingbirds, and humanely captured two mischievous squirrels in his backyard, promptly releasing them in the nearest nature preserve with a parting gift of peanuts and best wishes. John enjoyed watching the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Blue Jays, and played baseball, golf and mini-golf. He was involved with the Barrhead Blue Jays and Lacombe Dodgers baseball teams, and worked extensively to organize and promote the annual baseball tournament for the latter. John could frequently be found watching Jeopardy, Little House on the Prairie, and political shows on television, reading Western books, listening to his favourite music, and making extremely bad puns until everyone else gave up trying to compete with him. And every Christmas Eve, you could count on his viewing the film Scrooge – the definitive 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, of course. Likewise, John’s favourite toast, from the 1977 Christmas TV Movie The Gathering, resonated more strongly with him as each year passed: “…to what we have. To what we had. And to what we hope to have.”
John is survived by his wife of 46 years, Shirley (nicknamed Casey), and daughters, Jody and Kristy. He is also survived by sisters Jenny (George) Wemekamp, Fredrika (Joe) Peters, Rikie Feringa, and Dinie (Case) Hamoen, mother-in-law Irma Charlton, sister-in-law Alie Vogelzang, brother-in-law Jim Charlton (Nancy), and countless beloved family members and friends.
John is predeceased by his parents John and Hendrika, brother Bill, and best friend, Douglas Wood.
Funeral will be held at 1 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, at the Rose Garden Chapel in Barrhead, AB, with Pastor Art Verboon officiating. The funeral may be viewed online via live stream & tributes may be made at: www.rosegardenchapel.com
A private interment in the Barrhead Community Cemetery will occur at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made directly to The Lacombe Palliative Care Society.
John’s family extends special thanks to the following people for their kindness and efforts to ensure his comfort & peace: Dr. Wendy Ackermann, Dr. David Dawson, Corinne Huculak, Indranie Young, Lisa Hill, Jennifer at the Red Deer Hospice, the Lacombe Home Care, Palliative EMS & Community Paramedic teams, and all Unit B staff at the Lacombe Hospital.
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Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de John Vogelzang 2019..
Décès pour la Ville: barrhead, Province: Alberta