Obituary of Durk Pitstra
It is with sadness in our hearts that we announce the passing of father, grandfather and friend, Durk Pitstra on October 10, 2018 at Three Hills, Alberta after a short two week hospital stay.
Durk was born to Lijsbeth (nee: Hofstede) and Rinze Pitstra on May 17, 1926 in Engwierum, Friesland, Holland. Durk was the oldest sibling of 13 children.
A beautiful young lady named Elisabeth Maria deVries (Bep) was strolling down the street with a friend when she was noticed by Durk who was in the same square. Durk caught up with her and they were later married on August 28, 1946.
Durk was drafted November 8th, 1946. He trained for 5 months in Holland before leaving for Indonesia where he fought in the war from 1947 through 1950. In 1950 Durk became a harbor dock laborer in Holland. In 1954, Durk and Bep and their young daughters, Anna and Lys, migrated to Canada with the promise of a great future for his young family. Durk worked as a labourer on a farm until 1957 where he learned English by trial and error. In 1957, Durk joined Palm Dairies and worked his way through the ranks up to plant foreman. He worked there until his retirement in 1986. In 1996, Durk and Bep moved to Linden, Alberta from Cochrane Alberta. Because of an early retirement, Durk had the privilege of spending the last 20 years of Bep’s life fishing, camping, visiting family, playing cards, etc. with her. With sadness, Bep passed on December 20, 2006. Durk missed her greatly.
Durk was predeceased by his father Rinze and his mother Lijsbeth. He was also predeceased by his brothers Weird (Dora), Willem (Mar), Henk (Wiepie), Hanny (Hagen) and Imegred. He was also predeceased by his sister Baukje Vander Veer (Anne). Durk will be sadly missed by his surviving siblings: Sijtske Bleeker, Sippe Pitstra (Caroline), Anneke Bultje (Jan Willem), Jitske Koudenberg (Oega), Tinneke Jansen (Ben), and Bettie Hoff (Kees). Durk will also be missed by his Daughters Anna Anderson (Lawrence) and Lysbeth Fisher and his grandchildren Jeffrey Anderson (Isabel), Colleen Conrad (Cory), Lori Reinhardt (Dave) and Kelly Stotz as well as his great grandchildren Christine Stotz and Jacen Stotz.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Durk
Pitstra 1926 2018..
Death notice for the town of: Linden, Province: Alberta