Elisabeth Bep Maria Beekink Woodhouse

Elisabeth Maria Woodhouse was a modest woman, quiet and observant in her ways. She was trustworthy and traditional in her approach to her life and in her relationships. She was tough-minded with the kind of “stick to it” attitude that earned the respect of all who knew her. She was also a woman who was meticulous, carefully disciplined, and orderly in virtually everything she undertook. Realistic about life, she was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

Bep was born on July 14, 1925, with a Midwife at her Mom's bedside, in the house that she lived in until she was was married. The family home was at #66 Wenslauerstraat in Amsterdam. Her parents were Elisabeth Maria DeVries and Fredrik Karel Beekink. Bep was raised in on the west side of Amsterdam in Holland. She was brought up to be self-confident and dependable. These were traits that would serve her well throughout her life.

Growing up in the Woodhouse household was a bit different than most homes. There were good times to be had, but just as often there was a fair share of challenges as well. However, Bep was able to work through the usual family problems when they appeared, and she was the one person in the family who seemed able to keep the stress at bay. Bep was raised with one sibling, a younger sister, Fredrika Karolina, or more commonly known as Frieda. Bep was constantly involved in activities. Bep and Frieda may have had their typical rivalries while growing up but Bep was always consistently loyal to her family.

As a young child, Bep was never someone who needed to be the center of attention. She wasn’t pushy and never forced her way into games or other activities. Bep developed a variety of interests though, and the things she enjoyed doing she did well. She was always curious about the world around her and was often eager to explore it. Bep liked to swim and skate and dance. At the age of 7 she was taught by her mother to play the piano, which she did by ear. This would bring her joy for her lifetime. She also played the guitar and she had a lovely singing voice. As a young girl she was in the Brownies and then later the Girl Guides. However, what Bep enjoyed most was camping with her sister and her friends.

While her teachers and even her friends generally thought of Bep as being a serious person, she managed to have a pretty good time in high school as she made that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. She graduated from Jacob Van Lennip in 1941. She enjoyed some courses more than others, having favorite classes and teachers. Her favorite class in high school was bookeeping/accounting. Bep was a very logical person who enjoyed learning about factual information. Using her exceptional memory, she was able to learn much through observation. Bep always seemed to have a command of the facts and was able to make it seem as though she could easily master any problem that might be presented to her.

Always considered to be a solid friend, Bep was fortunate to have numerous acquaintances and several close friends during her life. Since she disliked making generalizations about people and preferred to draw her own conclusions based on direct observation, Bep was able to see beneath the surface of relationships and became a true friend to those who knew her. She was committed to her friends and valued the trust she placed in them. While growing up, some of her best friends were those she met as a Girl Guide. Later in life, she became friends with, The Mothers of Glengrove. The street that all of her children were raised on, in Toronto.

On May 27th,1946 Bep exchanged wedding vows with Fredrick George Woodhouse at a beautiful old Church, the Nieuwe Kerk Dam in Dam Square near the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. As a war Bride she was looking forward to immigrating to Canada to join her new husband, 'Woody'. Bep held endearing, traditional values about marriage and family life. She took the responsibility of marriage to heart, giving it her total commitment. She was a source of strength and used her gifts of nurturing to start a family and a successful new life, in a new country.

Bep brought the same traditional values in her marriage to bear on how she raised her children. She was a good parent to them, always firm yet fair in her dealings. She would always listen carefully and think things through before she acted, even when it was an adverse situation. Bep was also a walking schedule, always seeming to know what everyone in the family needed to do, where they needed to be and when they needed to be there. Bep was blessed with Three daughters, Faye, Brenda and Linda. She was also blessed with three Grandchildren, Brent and Amber Hall and Aaron Land. Her Mom later immigrated to Canada and moved into the family home in Toronto to help with the three girls as Bep always worked full time.

Bep greatly enjoyed what she did for a living. She was a hard worker who expected the same in return from her co-workers. She was skilled at working effectively in small groups and in one-on-one situations as well as handling solo assignments efficiently. Bep enjoyed dealing with concrete ideas and could penetrate any amount of fuzzy information to reach the essential facts. Always able to attend to the task at hand, Bep was excellent at meeting deadlines. She was an efficient worker, one who paid careful attention to detail, allowing sufficient time to complete one task before moving on to the next. As a Bookeeper she worked in Amsterdam, Toronto and Vancouver and retired at the age of 68. Bep worked hard to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done.

Bep liked to experience things first-hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into her hobbies, where she was very methodical in how she organized her activities and categorized things. Although she thoroughly enjoyed her private time and was devoted to her career, Bep always tried to allocate some time to do what she liked to do . Her favorite pursuits were spending time at the cottage, boating and goinh to the Symphony and fine restaurants. Bep was content and liked to share her interests with others.

Bep found pleasure in sports. Being a person who was comfortable making win/lose decisions throughout life, she could appreciate that athletes made those types of decisions in sports. She applauded those who won, and she enjoyed the statistical data and sports facts and could find herself wrapped up in those details. She would watch her favorite sporting events whenever she got the opportunity. Tops on her list was Hockey. She met 'Woody', at a skating rink in Amsterdam where he was coaching hockey. Later she became a devout Toronto Maple Leaf fan and then a Vancouver Canuck supporter.

As a volunteer, organizations were grateful to have Bep as a member, since she always brought with her a “stick to it” attitude and a high degree of common sense. Using straightforward methods to successfully complete the job, Bep was a great planner who was incredibly well organized. It seemed that she was able to schedule any event or activity with ease. She always seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. While living in Toronto, Bep was an active member of the

S.P.C.A..

Bep was a woman who quietly and privately practiced her beliefs while her children and husand attended Forest Hill United Church in Toronto.. She was a sympathetic and stalwart woman who upheld her personal values .

Bep enjoyed traveling and taking vacations. Since she had a knack for planning everything, traveling with Bep appeared effortless. She enjoyed researching all of her examined options and applying cost-effective planning techniques. Plus, no matter where she traveled, Bep always had a back up plan at the ready, just in case. Favorite vacations included a trip to Jamaica with her Mom, trip to the Bahamas with her Mom and Sister and a trip to South America with her youngest daughter Linda and a boat trip through the locks on the Trent Canal systerm in Ontario with her sister, niece and eldest daughter Faye.

Bep was a lover of animals and cherished her pets. She loved them all, dogs and cats alike. While growing up in Holland her family always had a dog and a cat and when she married and moved to Toronto there was also always a dog and a cat scampering around the house..... Nickie, Sandy and Muffin . Her family was rounded out during her retirement years by her cats Lucy and Simon, Ebony and Polly.

When Bep’s retirement finally arrived in 1993, she was prepared. She always trusted and placed value in what was logical and in the things she knew, so she was very confident in planning her retirement. She had begun the process early and had her retirement all laid out well in advance. Her new life involved relocating to a townhouse, then to a house in Maple Ridge from an apartment on the Lougheed in Burnaby. In retirement, she found pleasure in attending family get-togethers, going to the Symphony, going out to eat, gardening, reading the newspaper front to back and spending time with her cats. She felt fulfilled.

Elisabeth Maria Woodhouse passed away on April 27, 2012 at Surrey memorial hospital in Surrey, British Columbia. Bep suffered a masssive stroke. She is survived by her three daughters,Faye,Brenda,Linda and her sister Frieda, and her grandchildren,Aaron,Brent,Amber, and her great grandchildren,Nicholas,Lacey,Bennett, and Hunter. Services were held at Victory Memorial Park Funeral Centre, 14831-28th. Ave., Surrey,BC. Beps ashes remain with her daughters at present.

Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of Elisabeth Maria Woodhouse. She was committed to living the life of a good woman who was both practical and trustworthy. She was committed to the traditional values that she upheld her entire life. She committed herself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around her. Most of all, she was committed to those she knew and loved.