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Carl was born to John and Jacoba Vreeman in Brandon, Manitoba. He was the first of three children, his siblings Ray and Veronica followed. They later moved to Winnipeg, and then to St. Catherine’s Ontario where Carl graduated from high school in 1978. He started an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker just like his dad and they worked together for a couple of years. Carl’s dad discouraged him from getting into this line of work and that conversation was the catalyst that pushed Carl towards choosing a different career. Carl went to the RCMP station in Abbotsford and went on a ride-a-long. He enjoyed this experience and a short while later a position came up as a 911 dispatcher which he did until 1988 when he got hired by the Abbotsford Police Department. Carl enjoyed his 25 year career at the APD, working in different areas within the department such as patrol, on the bike squad, as a detective, as a Staff Sergeant and in professional standards.
Carl met Petra in 1982 when she came to Canada from the Netherlands to visit family. Over the next couple of years, Carl and Petra wrote letters back and forth, visited each other a number of times until Petra immigrated to Canada in 1984. They were married August 3, 1984. In 1988 their daughter Jasmine was born and in 1991 Amaris was born.
Carl, Petra, Jasmine and Amaris enjoyed trips to Holland numerous times over the years to visit Petra’s family. While already in Europe, they traveled to other countries such as Spain, Greece, Germany, England, France and others.
Carl retired in 2012. Over the next years he filled his time by going on trips with Petra, working on renovation and personal projects, spending time with his daughters, and eventually three grandchildren who called him Opa. He returned to contract work at APD part-time and enjoyed working with his co-workers. Over the years Carl took up running, starting slow but growing in endurance to run 5km every few mornings before he became sick this October.
In many ways Carl enjoyed renovation projects because he liked working with tools, learning new skills, and connecting with people who had advice on how to do certain projects. Carl’s biggest building accomplishment was building their family home on Sumas Mountain. Another one of his more recent favourite projects was building an outdoor fire table made out of concrete for the patio. He added lighting underneath to create an ambience. He would spend evenings around the fire table with family enjoying bitterballen and a beer. Carl had a telescope that he would set up to look at the moon and planets to show people who came over.
A source of great joy for Carl were his three grandchildren. He loved spending time with Josiah and Jayda; he took Josiah fishing in September and jumped at the chance to pick Jayda up from preschool. Carl and Petra took the kids to the beach and waterslides this summer, enjoying quality time with them. Jonathan was born in February and Carl was honoured and excited to learn that Jasmine and Jordan named him Jonathan Carl. In 2018 Amaris became a Sherriff and Carl was very proud that one of his daughters followed in his footsteps by joining law enforcement.
Carl was a loving and devoted husband, father and opa who demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit. He was loving, joyful, kind, and faithful. He was the rock of our family; he was reliable, full of integrity and wise. He will be missed and there will forever be a Carl sized hole in our hearts.
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Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Carl Edwin Vreeman May 18 1960
November 29 2021..
Décès pour la Ville: Abbotsford, Province: Colombie britanique