Arie van den Bos

RIVERTON - Arie van den Bos, 87, Valley View Villa, Riverton, formerly of Springville, died Friday, Feb. 3, 2017 in the Villa.

Born in Delft, Holland, in 1929, he was the son of the late Cornelius Gerrart and Petronella (Poot) van den Bos. Trained as an instrument maker, Arie served in the Royal Netherlands Navy. He later studied agriculture and emigrated to Canada in 1954. Several years later, he traveled to England to visit a pen pal, Barbara Kendrick. They eventually married and moved to Canada, the country he truly loved, in 1968 and lived in Springville most of their married lives. Arie worked at Sobeys West Side store until 1973 when he was able to realize his long-held dream of starting his own pig farm. In later years, he was the Dog Control Officer for the Municipality of Pictou County. He was a member of Springville Presbyterian Church and enjoyed singing in the choir.

Surviving are brother Kees, Delft; sister-in-law, Valerie Kendrick, Staines, England; Frank and Debbi Sobey, long known as “instant son and daughter-in-law”, Kings Head; as well as many nieces and nephews in Canada, Australia, Germany, and The Netherlands.

Besides his parents, Arie was predeceased by his wife, Barbara; sisters Riet (Cozijnsen), Australia; Greet (Nissel); Australia; Nel (Schneider), Germany.

A Service of Remembrance will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 1, 2017 in P. & K. MacDonald Funeral Home Chapel, New Glasgow with Rev. Gail Johnson-Murdock officiating. Private interment will take place in Springville Cemetery.

Donations may be made in Arie’s memory to the Aberdeen Health Foundation Palliative Care Unit Endowment. A special thank you is extended to the staff at Valley View Villa who helped make Arie’s stay there so comfortable. He was fond of them all. www.pkmacdonald.ca.