Name: First Memorial Funeral Services & Garden of Memories
Address: Victoria, BC

Peter was a great man! I first met Peter over the phone when I enquired about trying to set up a Latin Mass in the Mid-Vancouver Island area. This soon progressed to many long phone conversations before our first physical encounter in Victoria. 
I love history, and Peter growing up in Holland during WWII offered us many hours long phone calls and conversations. When I first met Peter I think I was about 17 years old or so and he became a kind of Grandfatherly mentor figure for me. He was a great man of integrity and logic, a masterful conversationalist and was possessed of the kind of sense of humour that was both gentle and hillarious. 
I will always remember Peter, both in my heart and in my prayers. 

Liam

Peter Jacobus Stornebrink, age 93, passed away on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.  He was predeceased by his parents Jacobus and Geertrudia Stornebrink, his six siblings, and his wife Christine. 

Peter grew up on a small farm in Friesland, in the northern Netherlands. After completing high school, he joined the army serving as a radio operator. While his unit was training in Holland he crossed paths with Christine; he’d never forgotten her since their first meeting five years earlier. Without losing any time, he asked Christine if she would marry him; sixty-eight years of marriage says it all!

Peter and Christine began their lives together in Holland, raising four young children. There, he worked for an engineering company before the family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, Ontario. During the day, Peter worked at Ontario Hydro, and in the evenings he took courses at Toronto University to obtain his Professional Engineering degree. He excelled in mathematics and was keenly interested in science and physics; he shared these interests with others by teaching evening university classes. After retirement, he moved to Victoria, BC with Christine. 

In Victoria, Peter became an active member in his Church, Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish. He loved to sing in the Latin Mass Choir, and for 10 years he served as president of UVVIA (a society promoting the Traditional Latin Mass). 

In his life, Peter was a man of devout faith. His passions included serving the church, and pursuing theological and mathematical studies. Gardening became his favorite past-time during his retirement years, and he was often found tending his flowers and vegetables, or starting a new garden project. Peter was a serious thinker; he enjoyed socializing, deep conversations, and sharing his spontaneous sense of humour. 

Peter is survived by his children, Trudy, Mieke, Elly, Rene, and Edward, his grandchildren Christopher, Alayna, Amanda, and Katie, and his great-grandchild, Hazel.

Some of my favorite memories of Dad were when he would take us weekly on Saturdays to this big branch library in Toronto with royal purple carpeting. I would sign out and read interesting books like world fables and myths, and the Nancy Drew series. On sunny Sundays after church he’d take us to a local park where we would have a picnic. Sometimes he would order our favorite at the time - Kentucky Fried Chicken with potato and/or coleslaw salad so Mom wouldn’t have to cook. He’d also take us to various parks like Centre Island with its vegetation maze and bumper cars that we’d enjoy, or to High Park.

Dad was consistent throughout life in terms of being methodical where everything had to be a certain way.  Precision was important to him; perhaps it was from being an engineer and because he was highly efficient in mathematics.

He grew up attending church daily and served as an altar boy for a time. I sometimes used to say that Dad would have made a great preacher as he loved to lecture. Perhaps this was channeled through his work when, later in life, he taught mathematics in the evening to students at Toronto University, following his full-time job at Ontario Hydro.

Dad was very much a meat-and-potatoes man, although he did love Mom’s delicious cooking and baking with Dutch delicacies like oliebollen and German/Austrian cakes and cookies. Dad loved classical music. It was the only music we listened to at home. I didn’t appreciate it until Dad took me to some live Toronto Symphony Orchestra concerts. My love for instrumental music may have been borne from this.

He seemed to have a penchant for drawing, at least for tall ships. I may have acquired that gift when I started drawing spontaneously from nature.

Recently, when I did some caretaking of Dad, I felt a lot of love and compassion for him, being more aware of what he might be enduring in terms of pain and suffering. It was difficult to see him so frail after having been so strong and healthy all his life.

Rene, Pat, Amanda, Katie , Edward and family
Thinking of you all at this difficult time. 
Val and Phil Callus

Our condolences and sympathy for the children and grandchildren of Petrus Jacobus Stornebrink. In October we had our last long phone conversation about old photos of his birthplace Irnsum in the Netherlands. He was also able to have long phone conversations with my father years ago. Uncle Piet is the last child of Jacob Stornebrink and Geertruida Palstra who has now also passed away. Rest in peace.

Richtsje & Koos Stornebrink (NL)

OBITUARY

Peter Jacobus Stornebrink

30 June, 1931 – 19 March, 2025

First Memorial Funeral Services & Garden of Memories

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