Restaurant owner had burger polls
John Dys liked to say he got into the food business by accident
You may not recognize the name John Dys. But if you lived in Vancouver over the last six decades, you’d recognize his restaurants — and some of his antics.
Dys founded several restaurants, including The Frying Dutchman, The Wooden Shoe and the Original Dutch Pannekoek House. In the 1960s, he started the famous “hamburger polls” for provincial elections at the PNE, where customers could order a burger named after a party leader.
“In those days, you weren’t allowed to do straw polls and he was threatened by Elections Canada,” said his daughter, Anny Dys.
“(But) he kept doing it and basically predicted who was going to win.”
Dys died April 30 at his Vancouver home following a battle with cancer. He was 85.
He was born Gerrit Jan Dijs on New Year’s Eve, 1934, in Bodegraven, Holland. When the Netherlands was occupied by Germany during the Second World War, he did all sorts of odd jobs to help the family survive.
“I think that may partly explain his zest for life,” said his wife, Odilia Dys. “Also his resilience.”
Holland had compulsory military service after the Second World War, and Dys spent a year in the army after being drafted. But he didn’t like it, so he moved to Canada in 1955.
“The only way to get out of (military service) was to emigrate, which Holland was happy to pay you to do, because jobs were really scarce (at the time),” said Anny.“They gave you tickets on the ship, tickets on the train, and $50 Canadian in your pocket.”
After landing in Halifax he took the train to Vancouver. He spent two years as a logger at Gold River on Vancouver Island and was about to leave for another job in the Yukon when he got in a bad car accident in Vancouver, and had to remain in the city.
“He was in Vancouver without a job and answered an ad that said, ‘Wanted, young man interested in the food business,’” said his daughter.
“So his famous saying, which we heard throughout our life, was, ‘I got into the restaurant business by accident.’ He was a pretty funny man.”
Dys (who had anglicized his name) wound up working for Nick and Bob Constabaris at the Delmar restaurant, where he held his first hamburger poll in 1963.
“Bennett’s a chew-in in the Great Hamburger Ballot,” said a Vancouver Sun story on Sept. 18, 1963, which noted the Delmar had sold 271 Bennett burgers (for the Social Credit leader), 214 Strachan burgers (for the NDP), 138 Perrault burgers (for the Liberals) and 135 Fulton burgers (for the Conservatives).
He started The Frying
Dutchman in 1970, specializing in hamburgers. But he found his true calling when he returned to the Netherlands for his parents’ wedding anniversary a couple of years later: the thin Dutch pancakes they call pannekoeks.
“He was so impressed with the concept he spent the next two weeks visiting as many pannekoek houses as he could, taking pictures and stealing menus and recipes,” said Anny. “He brought it back to Vancouver and in 1975 opened the Original Dutch Pannekoek House at 25th and Knight.”
After taking on Bill Waring as a partner in 1979, they built it into a successful chain with 19 locations. In recent years
Dys (which is pronounced “dies”) went into semi-retirement and became a big walker — he used to do a 64-kilometre trek from Gold River to Tahsis on Vancouver Island every year.
He stayed active to the end. “He was able to stay home and was looked after very well by his wife,” said Anny “He died in his bed, in his home. That was his greatest wish, to not have to be in the hospital.”
He is survived by his wife Odilia, three children (Vicky, Anny and Richard) and six grandchildren.
A celebration of his life will be held after the COVID-19 crisis passes.
He was so impressed ... he spent the next two weeks visiting as many pannekoek houses as he could.”
Anny Dys