The Huizingas landed in Montreal on July 29, 1948. Gepke and Klaas Huizinga came to Canada from Holland by boat with four children and didn’t know a word of English when they landed. The children were 9, 8, 4, and 2 when they arrived at the Glen Falloch farm of their sponsor, Stewart MacIntosh.
The eldest daughter, Hielkje, says they immigrated to Canada for work.
“Everything was so crowded and after the war there was so much damage in the country,” she explains, “It was my mom’s family that wanted to move to Canada because the jobs they were in had no opportunities at all.”
The family worked on the farm as labourers for two years before entering into a 50/50 partnership with the MacIntoshes, who split their home in half to house the family. They became like grandparents to the Huizinga children since they did not have kids of their own.
Eventually, the Huizingas bought the farm from the MacIntoshes, who moved into the village of Martintown. If there were any problems at school, the Huizinga children were to go to MacIntosh’s until the bus came.
Hielkje looks back fondly on the MacIntosh family, who she says, “were A1 people, you couldn’t ask for better.”
She recalls working on the farm with her siblings growing up.
“We all had to pitch in with the haying and you name it,” Hielkje told Seaway News, “Making maple syrup, we had to go to the bush before school to gather sap. Whereas now it’s all pipelines, then you had to go to every individual tree and put it in a bucket then walk back to the sleigh and put it in a barrel.”
The Huizinga family ran a prosperous dairy farm for many years. Gepke and Klaas’ son Nick and wife Gerdie still live on the property, where they plan to host a 75th anniversary celebration from 2pm to 4pm on August 5, 2023, open to friends and family.
While the eldest brother, John, has already passed, the other Huizinga children are looking forward to the event, including Hielkje (married to Joe Veenstra) and younger sister, Sylvia.
