August 28, 1932 – May 10, 2021
Andre passed away suddenly on May 10, 2021 with this son and daughter by his side at Vancouver General Hospital.
Andre was born to Ludovicus and Engelberta Rutten in Tilburg Netherlands on August 28, 1932. He was the second oldest child with two brothers and two sisters. He and his siblings grew up during the war in occupied Holland after which Andre finished school and then completed his training and apprenticeship as a Tool and Die maker. Following mandatory military service, he worked for Philips at their local manufacturing facility in the Netherlands.
Andre married Helena Van de Zanden in 1962, in Tiburg and they had a daughter and son over the next four years. In 1967 the young family immigrated to Canada to begin a new adventure and be with the rest of Andre’s siblings, who had all previously immigrated. Andre and Helena had two more children in Canada and were now a busy family of six. In Canada Andre continued his career with Microtel and became a highly skilled and coveted craftsman. His abilities at work extended to his hobby where he spent countless hours designing and building his own plastic injection molding machine and various molds for the machine. He was able to fix and repair anything, and he shared this skill with all that he knew.
Andre enjoyed life to the fullest in Canada. He marveled at the beauty and expanse of this place and spent many weekends and summers exploring its natural splendor in his beloved Volkswagen van. Andre was very close to his siblings and barely a weekend went by that they were not together celebrating each other’s company. Sadly Andre lost his first wife to cancer in 1982 when she was only 44 years old. With four kids still at home he had little time to mourn and continued caring for his family. In 2003 tragedy struck again when he lost his oldest daughter to cancer.
In 1991Andre married Beverley Cunningham. Soon after Andre retired and he and Bev spent much of their long retirement together square dancing, travelling and spending countless summer months at their cabin on Hornby Island. Andre loved Hornby with its natural beauty and relaxed pace. Sadly Bev passed away in 2017 and the loss of his second wife left Andre devastated and lonely, a loss which he never truly recovered from. In his last few years he struggled with advancing dementia but relished the extra time spent with his kids as they took a more active role in his elder care.
Above all, Andre valued his family. His kids, grand kids, brothers and sisters. He will be dearly missed by his son Marc and daughters Miriam and Petra along with his daughter and son in laws, Lisa, Dwight, Rob and Roger, grandchildren, Megan, Jordan, Noah, Nathan, Matthew, Sarah and Natalie, many nieces, nephews and friends.
A donation to the Canadian Cancer Society or Alzheimer’s Society of BC in lieu of flowers would be appreciated.
A graveside ceremony will be held on May 25 at 11:30am at the Port Coquitlam Cemetery.
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