Paul Joseph Johannes

Paul passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 15 at home. He had recently celebrated his 95th birthday surrounded by family. Born and raised in the Hague, the Netherlands, he could tell some harrowing tales of wartime Holland during his teen age years: At 13 watching from his bedroom window as a German plane came down burning, it suddenly dawned on him this was war! Then at 18 his narrow escape to Friesland where family hid him from the enemy: the consequences if caught, a labour camp in Germany.

After the war Paul attended Delft University of Technology and earned a Masters Degree in Mining Engineering. From 1956-58 he worked in Indonesia for the Billiton Co. supervising the dredging of tin from the sea. When anti Dutch sentiment and nationalistic riots occurred in the mid 1950s many Dutch companies pulled out of Indonesia. Paul returned briefly to Holland but wanted to see more of the world so he accepted a job with American Smelting and Refining Company operating a Lead-Zinc Mine in Peru. While in South America Paul toured the Amazon River and climbed to Machu Picchu.

In 1962 he left Peru and travelled home to Holland via California and New York.

On the Holland America liner, the Statendam, departing from New York, he met his future wife, Judy. She had been working as a registered nurse in California and was bound for England to meet up with friends and tour Europe. With letters from Paul arriving daily Judy somehow abandoned most of her plans to travel with friends and instead opted for a tour of Holland with Paul. They soon became engaged and were married in London three months later.

The couple had an extended honeymoon in Denmark, Sweden and Austria skiing and then returned to Holland to await the processing of Paul’s immigration papers for Canada. While waiting, Paul insisted that any wife of his should be able to tour on a bicycle. So off they went in mid March on a two week bicycle trip through the Dutch countryside.

They finally sailed for Canada and arrived in Montreal on April 31, 1963. Paul soon landed a job with Noranda Mines and on May 24th they drove to Noranda, PQ where they were greeted by a snow storm. A year later their twins were born and soon after, they were transferred to Aunor Gold Mine in Timmins, Ontario. Two years and a third child later they moved to Saskatoon, where Paul joined the Potash Industry as an engineer. They remained here for the next twenty two years and a fourth child was born in Saskatoon.

In 1987, the mine was forced to close temporarily due to flooding, and with Paul nearing retirement age, they decided to move to Vancouver, Judy’s former home.

They bought a house in West Vancouver near Horseshoe Bay and resided there for the next twenty two years. Paul worked for the first eighteen months as Manager and chief engineer for a gold exploration project in Goldbridge B.C. Once retired he became a member of Kiwanis and enjoyed walks with their faithful, German shepherd, Jessica, delivering papers for the North Shore News. In 2010 he and Judy decided to downsize and moved to a townhouse in South Surrey.

Paul was not an avid sportsman but had played soccer as a boy and coached his sons’ teams in Saskatoon when soccer was just beginning to become popular in North America. He was a nature lover and bird watcher. As a youth, he was a volunteer junior forest ranger in a wooded dune area near the Hague, a job he remembered and loved. In Canada the family spent numerous summers camping in many parts of the country. In 1975 Paul took them all to Europe. They rented a VW camper van with a pop up roof and camped for six weeks throughout Germany, Italy and France. Later, he and Judy travelled extensively in their larger Dodge camper van throughout Mexico and the USA. Later still, they made trips to China, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Costa Rica and Cuba. The fact that Paul spoke five languages came in very handy.

Paul will be remembered and greatly missed for his gentlemanly manner, his kindness, and keen sense of humour. He loved Canada and made many friends here, but never lost touch with his friends from his university days in Holland, or his Dutch family living there.

He is survived by his loving wife Judy, twins Erik (Ann) and Andrea(Jeffrey) sons Nicholas and Christopher, grandchildren, Mark and Charlotte, sister Ilse

Outmans, favourite nephew, Aldo San Giorgi and numerous other cousins, nieces, and nephews in the Netherlands, Australia and the USA. A reception of family and close friends is planned for the summer of 2022. Donations in Paul’s honour may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or to the BC Cancer Foundation.