Coming to Canada
The Kingma family kept close ties with relatives in Holland, while adjusting to life in their newly adopted homeland
The dark, rainy day suited the mood of those present who had gathered to say their goodbyes that early morning in May 1955. My wife Jeltje, our children Kathy (four), Janna (three) and John (eight months) and I were leaving Holland to immigrate to Canada. We were leaving the familiarity of our small country for something unknown. After eight days spent crossing the Atlantic aboard the Groote Beer, followed by five days of train travel, we arrived in Vancouver, which was to be our home for the next 37 years.
I worked at a construction job for the first three months, before getting a job in my original trade as a baker. My name had changed from Minne to Michael (Mike for short) and Jeltje was now called Shirley. After working for two years at the University Bakery, my boss bought another bakery that he put me in charge of; he called it the Danish Bakery. Eight years after that, I was able to buy the bakery and ran it until I retired.
Those first 37 years in Canada brought many changes. Our family expanded to a total of seven children with the addition of Ed, Marianne, Ray and Mike Junior. Shirley and I adapted well and thoroughly enjoyed living in Canada—more specifically Vancouver. We both had a basic understanding of English from high school and took some evening courses, which were a tremendous help. Becoming fluent in English took some time, but losing my accent—i never did.
Church life was very important to us, as well as sending our children to Christian school, and meeting and befriending “old-country” and “new-country” people, alike.
Keeping close contact with our family in Holland meant that we made many trips back to visit, and to tour Europe. Parents and siblings also came here to visit us.
Time marched on; all seven of our children married and went on to give us 21 grandchildren and, eventually, 19 great-grandchildren.
I retired from the bakery in 1992 and, after
having worked with me for several years, my son Ray replaced me as the new owner. He relocated it and it’s now called Ray’s Bakery. Shirley and I moved from Vancouver to Kelowna, B.C., where our daughter Jennie (Janna) and her two children lived. Sadly her husband, Graham, had passed away.
In 2009, Shirley, my beloved wife and helpmate, also passed away after a 14-year battle with cancer.
I now live on my own and keep in contact with my children and grandchildren through email, as they have spread far and wide, some in western Canada, but others as far away as the United States, Mexico and China.
I also enjoy using my computer to write my thoughts on life experiences as a senior. More changes have come with age: After 22 years, I gave up playing with the Kelowna City Band and I no longer drive at night. Although I’ve had to slow down and accept certain limitations, I am very thankful for my physical ability—i can still move around on my own.
Looking back, I have no regrets at all about moving to Canada all those years ago. ■