Joaquim Martins Varandas

Joaquim Martins Varandas was born in Portugal, on May 20, 1941, and passed away on May 8, 2023. To his Portuguese family and friends, he was referred to as Joaquim to his English friends, he was Jack.

Joaquim mourned the loss of his parents, and his first wife, Irene, and now due to heart problems and a massive stroke, the loss of Joaquim is now being mourned by his 2nd wife, Griselda, Joaquim’s daughter Cristina and son Mario, Cristina’s children Sarah and Joshua, and Sarah’s son, Theo. Also grieving the loss of Joaquim are his sister, Maria, his brother, Mario, his nieces & nephews, and as well, friends and neighbors who knew him.

Joaquim left Portugal to move to Canada around 1969, in his mid-twenties. He was able to learn English quickly, upon coming to Canada, which made the difficult transition to a new country easier.

Joaquim himself, was intelligent and loved to discuss and debate with others; something many will miss about him. He had a great sense of humor with great wit, and also a playful, teasing nature. His nature was very sociable; he loved to talk with people and also loved the family gatherings. He was very creative – as an artist of painting – various types and mediums. I understand Joaquim was a self-taught artist and very good in what he painted. He always had a high affinity to learn – at any age!

When he was younger, Joaquim liked to travel; he had an adventurous nature, and returned to Portugal often, also. He also liked to take family road trips, because they gave him so many enjoyable memories. Joaquim’s life view was sometimes optimistic, but more so he is best described as a realist.

For many years here, he worked as a realtor, but his passion was always painting. He painted people mostly, and some street scenes, especially of Portugal. People photography was an interest of his, also. Joaquim was good with his hands in many ways; as well as painting he was a talented carpenter. He built their Mexico home.

Other activities Joaquim enjoyed were playing cards - in particular, Texas Holdom. He played poker weekly, with friends, and enjoyed going to Vegas to do some gambling there as well. He enjoyed reading non-fiction books, most often on politics and history. When it came to television watching it was mostly the news he was interested in, although he did enjoy the show, ‘Planet Earth,’ which was a highly awarded series documenting nature.

When it came to other enjoyments for Joaquim, there was also food; he loved his food, and fish was one of his mainstays. He also loved the soup his sister, sister-in-law and late wife made! He would say, “A Portuguese woman can make a pot of soup!”

Joaquim was very much an honest person, and he liked people, enjoyed connecting with others. When he was younger, he had more friends, but as he grew up his greater connections and activities were more so with family. Growing up was a difficult time for him, as money was scarce then. But this became a great inspiration for him to develop his resourcefulness. In fact, resourcefulness was a strong quality in Joaquim.

One of the ways he used his strength was in helping others access information they were looking for over the internet. He both enjoyed helping others and learning more himself. He was very good with the internet and was no stranger to technology. In fact, I understand his favorite piece of technology, was his smart phone as it was his contact with family, friends, and the world. And this was very important to him as he very much enjoyed his family and friends.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.firstmemorialnorthvancouver.com for the Varandas family.