Johannes Christiaan Wouter Karpes

December 12, 1945 - February 28, 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father, 'John', age 79, of Victoria, British Columbia.

Dad was the heart and soul of our family. Ever the peacemaker. He loved us all deeply and he always made sure we knew that. And, if you knew him, know this; he loved you too, because he loved everyone. His heart was that big.

Dad was born in Oegstgeest, Holland, to parents Wouter Johannes and Anna Maria (Wesseling) Karpes. He was the sixth of nine siblings, Mary, Chris, Gus, Bill, Dick, Theo, Francisca, and Paula.

Dad was born right after WW2, and the effects of the war and the changes it brought to Europe made dad's parents choose to immigrate to Canada in June of 1952. They arrived in Montreal by plane, taking a train to Winnipeg. Life wasn't easy, living in a two-bedroom house with 10 people, but they managed. Dad told us funny stories about those times. All five brothers sleeping in one bed, peeling a whole bag of potatoes for dinners, or buttering two loaves of bread for lunches. They had to play outside in 'shifts' so the landlord wouldn't find out how many kids there were! But they made friends, and being a musical family, they met others, and they danced and played music, and even performed at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, sharing the bill with the family von Trapp. In 1954, they made their way to the relative warmth of Vancouver. For a time, they owned and managed 'Mary's Café' on Kingsway, named after dad's oldest sister. Dad attended Vancouver College there, along with his brothers. In 58/59, at the age of 13, dad attended Seminary School at Westminster Abbey in Mission BC, living at the dormitories there.

In 1962 their mother took a teaching job in Victoria, at Sacred Heart Catholic School, and dad went to St. Louis College, on Pandora St. in 62/63 for grade 11. While there, he made some life long friends. The family lived on Balfour Ave, and he had a job at the Craigflower service station at Gorge/Admirals. In the fall of 1963, their mother took another teaching job, this time in San Pedro California. So, the family moved again, and John graduated from Fermin Lausen High School in San Pedro in 1964. After that he took a job with Pacific Telephone in L.A.

In 1966, the U.S. Army drafted John for the Vietnam War. In May of that year, he reported for induction at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas. During his two years of active duty, he spent time in Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico before joining the famous '2nd Armored Division'- 'Hell On Wheels' in Fort Hood, Texas. He was Private 1st Class in the Signal Core, and received two decorations: Sharpshooter and the National Defense Service Medal.

Dad finished his two years of active duty, and thankfully, he never went to Vietnam. He left Texas in May 1968, and went back to San Pedro before embarking on a trip for several months around Europe with his sister Francisca.

In 1969, John left California, driving his 58 Chevy Apache pickup truck. He was on his way to the Yukon, to see his brother Gus, when he stopped here in Victoria to visit his friends. He ended up taking a job at B.C. Tel and never left. He met his bride to be, Joan, in May of 1970. Mom and dad were engaged in November of 1970 and they married in August of 1971. Dad worked for B.C. Tel (Telus) for 31 years, starting out as a PBX Installer and finishing in System Sales, retiring at age 55.

Over the years, Dad renovated houses and apartments, built lots of furniture, bought various campers and fixed them up to take us camping, bought a boat and learned how to fish, learned Chinese cooking, enjoyed hockey, music, making wine, doing puzzles and reading a lot of books, some in Dutch.

Despite knowing the language, he didn't teach us much Dutch, except for some of the swear words and silly sayings. But he liked to say, "Dit gaat ook vorbei."('This too shall pass'.) He was wise. Dad was one of those people who could fix almost anything. Whether it was a broken bike, a faulty electrical outlet, or a broken heart. He did it all!

Dad was a very sentimental person. He was sincere and protective. He was kind, and funny. Like any of us, he might lose his patience sometimes, but he always had the ability to admit when he was wrong. That was possibly his greatest characteristic. He was reliable and determined to love people. His love for us was deeply evident. Every night growing up, his last words to us were always "Mommy and daddy love you." Those words made a world of difference.

John was a loving husband to his wife Joan for 53 years, and together they had three children Scott (Katrinka), Marika (Sandy), and Kirk (Jess). John was also 'Papa' to seven grandchildren - Juno, Kaedin, Colton, Olympia, Aurora, Atticus and Ozias. Dad was very fond of his siblings and his many nieces and nephews throughout Canada, the U.S. and beyond. They all called him, 'Uncle Johnny', and he was known for his encouragement, kindness and his playful sense of humor.

Tot ziens dad! We miss you very much!

There will be a celebration for John: June 7th, at 4125 Interurban Rd, Clubhouse, 2pm.