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Meet the Vanderwerffs

"Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect."


Vonnie Vanderwerff Hans Vanderwerff Maxwel Uretsky Sofie Uretsky Oscar Bernard

Vonnie and Hans - Maxwell is 10 - Sofie is 12 - Oscar is 11 years old.

Our three daughters, January 2008 in Mexico

Our three daughters
Mirjam (left), married to Marshall, is the Mom of Sofie and Maxwell.
Evelyn, married to David, is Oscar's Mom. She also is the Mom of Signe, Joshua, Aaron, and Seth.
Marjory is married to John. They have three children, Jacob, Jordan, and Marcus.


Meet the Vanderwerff family

       My wife Vonnie and I originally are from the Netherlands. We spent the tender years of our youth going through WW II and Nazi occupation. Terror and hunger dominated those years for many of us. Those years left an indelible impression upon our minds. I met Vonnie after the war at my parents' home. That was in June of 1948. I was home on leave from the Navy. I served in the Royal Dutch Naval Air Arm, and was an avionics technician by trade. I was young and I expected much from life.

       Vonnie and I started dating on 29 March 1949. We had made plans to get married in the Fall of 1950. But because I received a posting in the Dutch West Indies, scheduled to leave the Netherlands on 6 January 1950, we changed our minds and decided to get married on 8 December 1949 instead. Our marriage was blessed with three wonderful daughters. Evelyn is our oldest, Marjory was born next and Mirjam is our youngest. After seven years of marriage Vonnie and I agreed that I would leave the Navy to start anew somewhere else. The pressure of having to leave the family behind each time I was shipped out simply was too much to bear. That somewhere else turned out to be Canada. On 20 September 1957, our young family boarded a KLM Super Constellation bound for Montreal, Canada.

       We settled in Montreal where I had secured a position with Canadian Aviation Electronics. I worked for CAE for the next four years. After CAE I started to work for the Boeing Aircraft Company in Arnprior, Ontario. On 1 November 1961 I accepted their offer and worked for Boeing for the next 15 years.

       Vonnie and I moved from Arnprior to the city of Toronto on 1 February 1977 where we still live today. Now that I am (semi) retired, I have devoted my life, my time, and my energy to expose and fight anti-Semitism. I have recorded the horrors of the Holocaust on my WebSite "The Holocaust: Lest we forget" as it effected the Dutch Jews in particular. Should you wish to contact me concerning this Website, you may email me here




Photo gallery of our great-grandchildren

       Lo, children are a heritage of the L-rd: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5

       Our daughters Evelyn, Marjory, and Mirjam are married to David Bernard, John Hoeksema, and Marshall Uretsky respectively. They have blessed us with ten wonderful grandchildren, Signe, Joshua, Aaron, Jacob, Jordan, Seth, Marcus, Sofie, Oscar, and Maxwell. Seven are mature adults who are making a substantial impact on the economy of our society. All seven are married now. On 15 August 1998 our grandson Aaron married his beloved Vicki. On 28 March 1999 our granddaughter Signe was married to the love of her life, Oded Orgil. Our other granddaughter, Jordan, married her love Jeff Bustos on 18 May 2001. On 2 October 2004 our grandson Jake married his love Kat, while his brother Marcus tied the knot on the 26th of November 2005 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a wonderful young lady by the name of Liz Danielsky. Josh married the smartest choice of his life (or was it the other way around?), the lovely Krista Joost. They were married on the 29th of July, 2006, in a beautiful ceremony in Mono Hills just outside Orangeville, Ontario. Last but not least, Josh's youngest brother Seth married Amélie Grenier, his beloved, on the 3rd of September, 2006, in a lovely ceremony in Montreal.

       Our three grandchildren, Sofie, Oscar and Maxwell are too young to even think of marriage, as can be seen from the pictures above. They are smart cookies though. It always is a delight to have them come and visit us! We truly are blessed parents, grandparents, and now also great-grandparents. On 10 May 2000 Kobi Moshe, our first great-grandson, made his grand entrance into our world. His brother Benjamin Yonatan followed two years later, on 7 May, 2002. Oded and Signe are the proud parents. On the right are the pictures of Kobi and Benji. They follow in their father's footsteps. Both are in training for the Israeli national hockey team. Kobi and his brother Benji are quite the pair. I am not sure who is the better skater, but I am convinced that they will get far in the hockey world. Benji, like his brother, is both confident and flattering. Signe and Oded presented us with a great-granddaughter on May 28, 2004. Tali Batia Chaya weighed in at just over 6 lbs. Tali, therefore, is a brand new sister to Kobi and Benji. Tali is a lucky girl to have two brothers to take care of her. On 3 February 2006 we received word that Signe and Oded became parents again. Signe gave birth to our 6th great-grandchild, Eva Gabrielle. She is a brand-new sister to Kobi, Benji and now also to Tali. She weighed a little over 5 lbs. She is most adorable we think. Because of technical difficulties, it took a while to get her picture. But from here on in we will keep this page updated regularly. Both guys adore their little sisters.

       The pictures on the right of Tali, Evie and Leo were taken at our home on the 29th of November 2007. Having had the family over for a visit has convinced me that Kobi and Benji are lucky guys to have a sisters and now also a baby brother to take care of. I think the protection and loving care of the parents has something to do with that. Besides, Tali pretty much can take care of herself and Evie is not far behind her in this. August 25 2007. Oded informed us of the birth of his and Signe's 5th baby, a boy. His name is Lior, but he goes by the name of Leo. Mazel tov to the parents. The pictures on the right are living proof that all our married garndchildren are excellent parents.

       On the 11th of March 2003 our granddaughter Jordan gave birth to a baby girl. Jordan and Jeff named her Ryan Paige. Ryan loves cheese. Must be the Dutch in her. She is a very happy girl. Jeff and Jordan, or Oma Marjory, keep us supplied with the latest pictures from Denver. Ryan has grown into a lovely young lady who always is willing to pose for a new picture. All I have to do is chose the one I think is the prettiest and put it on my WebPage. The choice is very difficult to make because I have not yet seen a bad picture of her. Below is Ryan's latest picture. Her picture is one of the many that we could chose from. She loves the hat her Mom knitted for her.

       On the 23rd of February 2005 we received word from a very calm and cool, but proud grandmother, our daughter Marjory, that Jordan had given life to a baby boy. Jeff and Jordan named him Cole Jeffrey. Below, Cole after his first haircut. He sure is proud of his new looks. On the 26th of October 2006 we received a phonecall from our daughter Evelyn informing us that she became grandmother again. Seth and Amélie became the proud parents of a baby boy. They have named him Edgar. It is their first child. See his picture below.

       Oma and I received a call from daughter and son-in-law, Marjory and John, informing us that a baby boy was born to their son Jake and his wife Kat on the 18th of November 2007. They name him Oliver. Marcus and his wife Liz became the proud parents of a lovely baby girl on the 15th of April 2008. Her name is Isabella Rose. We now have pictures of all our great-grandchildren. I know! Vonnie and I have many reasons to be proud of all our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We certainly may not forget our daughters and their husbands. They have brought us much nachus. Last but not least Vonnie and I must give thanks to G-d for His mercy, patience and love with us and with our growing family.

Kobi Orgil

Kobi Orgil
Photo: Oded Orgil

Benji Orgil

Benji Orgil
Photo: Oded Orgil

Tali Orgil

Tali Orgil
Photo: Oded Orgil

Eva Orgil

Evie Orgil
Photo: Oded Orgil

Leo Orgil

Leo Orgil
Photo: Oded Orgil

Cole Bustos Ryan Bustos Edgar Gabrielse Oliver Hoeksema Isabella Rose Hoeksema. Liz and Marcus are the proud parents

fltr: Cole Bustos - Ryan Bustos - Edgar Gabrielse - Oliver Hoeksema - Isabella Rose Hoeksema
Photos: Marjory Hoeksema sent us the pictures of Cole, Ryan, Oliver and Isabella - Amélie Grenier-Gabrielse took the picture of Edgar


Latest update was incorporated on 31 May 2008