Herman Houweling

Herman was born on August 26, 1938, in Cappelle ade Yssel, Netherlands. He was the 11th child to Hester and Cor Houweling. He was the youngest child and was spoiled by his older siblings.

He emigrated from Holland to Canada in 1957, on his own, at the age of 18, and found work up North in the oil rigs, where he worked for 5 winters. He started farming in 1963 and met Mattie at New Westminster church the same year. They were married on June 6, 1964, and started their life together in Cloverdale and then in Langley.

Herman worked hard to support his family. He worked in construction during the day, and also farming at the same time, for 8 years. In 1971, they moved to Abbotsford and started farming on Harris Road.

Clifford was born in 1965, Bill in 1967, Hester in 1970 and Sandra in 1974. Herman loved farming, and continued to expand the farm, building their own barns, as well as all the work of farming.

In 1997, they moved off the farm to Beaton Road, where he semi-retired, which was good. They made lots of trips to see his family in Holland, and many different countries. Herman really liked Mexico and enjoyed two different family trips to Holland with all the kids, which he talked about often. During this time, he had many different surgeries, but, by the grace of God, he always bounced back again. He also continued playing hockey in a city league until he was 82.

In 2020, he started to get sick and had lots of ups and downs but always kept a positive attitude. Through all of this, he continued to go to the farm every day to see what was going on and help where he could.

He leaves behind his forever love Mattie, 2 sisters, four kids, four in laws, 15 grandkids and 17 great grandkids. He was a big hit with his great grandkids, and they loved great grandpa.

“Take me back to the place, where I first received you,

Take me back to where I first believed.

I tried so hard to make it alone,

I need your help to make it home.”

Herman was a member of Living Hope Church since 1971. He will be remembered for his faith in God, his sense of humour, and for always having a positive outlook on life and circumstances.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Living Hope CRC, 34631 Old Clayburn Rd, Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Thursday August 27, 2026, at 1:00 pm, with a livestream available at https://www.youtube.com/live/4QmGzxK4Tkg.