THE VISBACH FAMILY’S JOURNEY OF ADVENTURE
They gave up much, but gained more, writes Alida Visbach
He built two small log cabins on the land, with no running water or electricity. One was for himself and the other to house new Dutch immigrants. ALI DAVIS BACH, on her father, Frits
Just before Europe went to war again in 1939, Frits Visbach, a bookkeeper, entrepreneur and adventurer decided it was time to find a new life for himself and future generations of Visbachs. He found the confines of crowded Holland stifling and longed for wide, open spaces. Luckily for my siblings and me, he chose Canada.
He left behind in Holland, a sister, a brother, a halfsister and a half-brother and a thriving family business to seek his fortune in an unknown land. He sold all his worldly possessions, including a sailboat he built himself and a rare stamp collection he had gathered over many years, to pay for his passage.
After an ocean voyage carried him from the port of Rotterdam to the port of Halifax, he journeyed via train, west to Sussex, New Brunswick, where friends had settled a few years prior.
Although New Brunswick held an appeal for young Frits, he knew there was a vast country spread out to the west that he needed to explore before he determined where to stake his claim.
He travelled cross country, hitchhiking with his English setter dog, paying his way doing farm labour in the Prairies, spending one winter in a sod hut, and picking cherries in the Okanagan until he reached the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, where he gained employment as a scaler in a logging camp. In his spare time, he practised his hobby of photography, taking photographs of the loggers at work, earning extra money while honing his skills. It also gave him a break from calculating board feet of lumber from the massive Sitka spruce trees being felled to use in construction of the Sitka Bombers, also known as the Spruce Goose planes being built for war.
After earning enough money, Frits felt it was time to stake his claim in Canada, and decided to go back to New Brunswick. He found a piece of land outside of Fredericton, on the Golf Club Road, which today is one of the city’s more upscale neighbourhoods. He built two small log cabins on the land, with no running water or electricity. One was for himself and the other to house new Dutch immigrants. He started the first of many tree and plant nurseries, which would become his mainstay of business.
Frits worked hard and established himself as a skilled and reputable landscaper and grower of trees, shrubs and other plants. His business grew as his work was recognized as creative and different. After several years, he felt it was time to set down permanent roots, which meant a life partner and a family. It had also been a long time since he saw his family and friends in Holland so, with those goals in mind, he set sail to his homeland to reconnect with family, but more importantly, with the hopes of finding a woman who could share his passion for adventure, horticulture and establishing a family in Canada.
The Second World War had just ended, with Canadian troops liberating Holland and life, though in tatters, starting to rebuild after the devastation of war. Thea DeHaan had spent most of the war separated from her family at the horticultural college she attended. When the war broke out in Holland, she could not safely make her way back home, so she boarded with a local family, eking out enough to survive after the German army confiscated what food stores they had on hand. Towards the end of the war, Thea and her boarding family found themselves with little to eat and they resorted to eating tulips bulbs for sustenance.
It was when Thea finally returned home that she met Frits. He told stories of life in Canada, the majestic, wide open spaces, freedom, opportunity and beauty of this land so far away. Thea was entranced. Not only was she, too, yearning for a new start after a long and trying period in Europe, she found Frits dashing, brave and smart.
Frits proposed, Thea accepted. It was the beginning of an amazing, challenging, fulfilling and rewarding life together. Plans were made for Thea to join Frits in Canada, but money was scarce and they couldn’t afford passage for two. So, Frits returned to Fredericton, to earn money for his fiancée to join him.
On March 12, 1948, Thea set sail from Rotterdam aboard the Kota Inten, a refurbished freighter turned liner for the voyage across the Atlantic. Passage took 22 days. There were 702 passengers aboard, most were Dutch, but 250 Ukrainians as well. They arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax on April 3, 1948. I remember my mother telling me of a rough and choppy crossing, but excitement and exhilaration kept her feeling well throughout the trip.
Thea travelled by rail to Sussex to join Frits, where, a few weeks later, they were married in the flower garden of friends, Bart and Lucy Uitteval.
I can only imagine what must have gone through my mother’s mind as she first set eyes on the little log cabin in Fredericton. Being born and raised in Hertogenbosch, a large and busy city, this must have been incredibly primitive. Hauling drinking water from friendly neighbours, reading by lantern at night and working long and hard days in the nursery and greenhouses, it must have been a true test of their love and commitment.
A year later, oldest son Dirk was born, followed four years later by daughter Dieuwke, then Mark and, finally, me. My mother had her ideal family. Two boys and two girls. With time and hard work, Frits and Thea’s nursery business expanded and they bought an established business in downtown Fredericton. They continued to grow their business, as it now included a florist operation and huge greenhouse complex that covered a full city block. They ran the largest tulip, daffodil bulb, and plant importing business in Eastern Canada and sponsored many Dutch immigrants to come and settle in the land that had given them such opportunity.
I am still in awe of what my parents accomplished and how they worked to create a life for my siblings and me. We are all proud Canadians, but will never forget our Dutch roots and our Dutch parents who gave up so much but gained in return. Thank you Pap and Mam, and thank you, Canada
Canada is a global energy leader. According to the Ipsos Global Energy Pulse — an international survey about the world’s views on energy — Canada ranked No. 1 as the preferred supplier of oil and natural gas exports to markets internationally. Tim McMillan