Anna Maria Klees

Ann Klees died on December 11th, 2024, in her beloved hometown of Qualicum Beach, and will be remembered by many for her feisty spirit, her creativity often expressed with observant ideas, and her determination that community could and would be a better place for all.

Ann (nee Anna Maria Bakker) was born in Amsterdam, and later grew up in Den Hague, Netherlands where she trained and worked as a kindergarten teacher in Holland and Finland. She met Leo Klees in high school, and they felt destined to be together. Leo had gone to Canada in 1950, returning briefly in 1951 where his request for marriage to Ann was denied by her father. For the next 5 years, they only wrote letters to each other! Finally in 1957, she travelled to Canada by ship, across Canada by train to Prince George, BC where Leo picked her up and told her to Pouce Coupe in the Peace River Country, to join him on his Canadian adventures. Within days of her arrival in the North, they married. They remained partners for 57 years, until Leo’s death in 2013. As soon as possible, she gained her Canadian citizenship and from that day forth always insisted on her Canadian identity first.

By 1968, Ann and Leo had six children all born in Northern BC. In 1967, Ann convinced Leo to seek new employment and better opportunities for their growing family. They moved to Qualicum Beach, living in a rented house on Sunningdale Road East until their house, further down the road was built. This was home to Ann until February 2024. While Leo focused on his career and roles as Town Administrator along with other related duties, Ann was just getting going with ideas of her own, along with supporting Leo. In the North, Ann had introduced the innovative ideas of cooperative pre-school to the community. Now in Qualicum Beach, Ann spread her wings and became an energetic and well-known community developer for the entire Oceanside Region, in mostly unpaid roles.

One accomplishment, of which she was justifiably proud, was the Town’s purchase and conservation of the Heritage Forest, which will stand forever as a testimony to her foresight and tenacity. An evening walk along the Brown property (as it was then known) led to a chance discovery of a scrap of paper detailing a developer’s ideas and plans to develop the whole double ravined forest into housing. This launched both Ann and Leo into a hard-won but successful battle with great community support and other leaders to raise the funds to purchase and lock this precious forest away from development for perpetuity. Ann felt this was one of her greatest gifts to her beloved Town.

Long before this endeavour, however, Ann’s energy and efforts led to the following:

• Founder of the Sunrise Pre-School – first ever cooperative playschool in Parksville operated for 30 years

• Founder, Co-founder, or inaugural participant of many community projects and organizations in the area, most notably:

o The Career Centre (Parksville)

o The Seniors Centre (Qualicum)

o The Gardens (Qualicum)

o Alternative Justice Committee – member

o Ensuring there were swimming lessons and summer programming for kids in Qualicum

• Coaching, supporting, and encouraging youth in many informal ways in the community

• Recipient of the prestigious Freeman of the Town of Qualicum award in 2011

Ann’s boundless spirit also led her to create time for the other things that she loved. She loved to travel and did so with Leo all over the world, often only booking hotel accommodation on the day of arrival and departure. The rest would be adventure, whether in Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Portugal, or elsewhere.

Ann adored nature and outdoor spaces, creating a home garden that she proudly invited others to enjoy, even when she was not home. In her garden she feed birds and squirrels, took care that the Brown bats had a place to nest and added in local Nelson Shaw art designs. She was an art lover, a promoter of local artists and their crafts, and herself was a textile artist renown for her handmade Christmas cards and other textile work. Ann was known for and wore the bright colours of these passions to her last days.

“Where there is a will, there is a way” is the motto that Ann instilled in her family. She was very proud of the accomplishments and characters of her whole family. She is survived by family members, far-flung across Canada and USA. These include her 6 children and their partners (Maureen, Janet, Evelyn, Gwen, Lex and Steven), 17 grandchildren and their partners: Phil, Vanessa, Jennifer (deceased), Mary, Victoria, Nathan, Haily, Bram, Joanna, Natesa, Pascale, Dominique, Gabrielle, Bradley, Marissa, Darren, Braeden, and 5 great-grandchildren Kaden, Ruby, Ella, Enzo, Mae. Ann and the family would include Mark and Kerry as an additional son of her heart, along with Christopher and additional grandson of her heart.

Ann’s spirit, dedication to imaging a better community, and her unending ideas will be greatly missed by both her family and the community.

Plans for a memorial service for Mom (Ann) in late Spring 2025 in Qualicum. BC.

In lieu of flowers donations to the Heritage Forest or North Island Wildlife Recovery.