Gertrud Pauline Kok

Our loving mother, Pauline Kok, passed away peacefully at the age of 91 surrounded by family on Friday October 18, 2024.

Pauline was born in Langsa on the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Here she lived an idyllic childhood until the age of nine when the Japanese invaded the Island during World War II. Pauline, her mother and younger siblings, survived the following three and a half years in concentration camps; while their father was sent to work on the Siam-Burma Railway. The family was reunited after the war and emigrated to Holland.

Over the next ten years Pauline studied hard to catch up on the education she had lost during the war, graduating first with a teacher’s diploma, and then a nursing diploma a few years later. She married Jake Kok shortly after they met, and the young couple moved to Liberia, west Africa, where they lived for the next fifteen years.

In 1972, Pauline, Jake and their four children emigrated to Canada. After returning to school to upgrade and receive her Canadian Nursing Diploma, Pauline worked for the Region of Waterloo at Sunnyside Home as a Registered Nurse in Kitchener, Ontario. She worked full time, on the evening shift, until she retired at the age of 62.

Pauline never spoke of her time in the concentration camps, until sixty years later. Her memoir “The Remains of War” received the Shelf Unbound Award as one of the 100 notable books in 2015; It was translated into Dutch under the name of “Het Vergeten Camp”. That same year, Holland celebrated 70 years of freedom, and chose “Het Vergeten Kamp” to be published in its entirety in magazine format to make it available country-wide. Pauline’s second memoir, “The Road to Merdeka” is the follow-up story of what happened to Pauline and her family after the war. For further information on either The Remains of War and/or The Road To Merdeka, please visit www.paulinekok.com.

Above all else, Pauline valued her family. She is survived by her children Paul (Lyne), Natascha Voll (Doug), Stella Freiberg (Walter) and Mark (Jessica); and was forever proud of her many grandchildren Renee (Mike), Ciara (Matt), Alexis, Nathaniel (Cassidy), Savannah, Hunter, Cole, Ren, Anya, Seth, Takeo, Jaden, Cyrus, and Karai; and her great-grandson, Benjamin.

She was predeceased by her husband Jake Kok, her parents Harry Schurgers and Pauly Schurgers (nee Murk), as well as her sisters Annie (Peerdeman) and Mariet (Spee). Her brothers Frans and Harry, will miss her dearly.

Visitation will take place on Monday, October 21 from 2-4 and 6-8 pm at Westmount Memorial Celebration Centre, 1001 Ottawa St. S. Kitchener. A funeral liturgy will be held on Tuesday October 22 at 11 am at Westmount Memorial Celebration Centre, 1001 Ottawa St. S. Kitchener.

Cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the VON Sakura House in Oxford County. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.westmount funeral chapel.com.