Janke (DILLEMA) HOEKSTRA

Janke lived most of her life in Kollum. In 1951 (45yo), she and her family moved to Oliver, BC. There she lived for 9 months. After that, she and the family moved to Sea Island (now Vancouver Intl Airport) and stayed there for about a year, after which they moved to Port Alberni for new employment opportunities (forest industry, working at the mills).

She was never a physically strong person and suffered alot of sickness. During WWII, she suffered many thyroid-related problems and was often depressed, anxious and tired. She had hyperactive thyroid. Her oldest daughter helped alot around the house after school, since her mother was weak. WWII had a big negative impact on the family and especially her. She was pregnant during the war (with 2nd son) and this created alot of stress.

During the worst years of WWII, Janke's parents (who also lived in Kollum a few streets away) came to live with Janke and family. The reason for this was that the Germans limited the amount of fuel oil available for heating and this way they could enjoy a warmer home by doubling up.

Her thyroid improved once she moved to Canada, but then her arthritis worsened. She had a hip replacement.

During her stay in Oliver, a funny incident happened. She wanted to wax her floor and she needed some wax. Her English was not too good and at the store, she motioned as if waxing a floor and said "flour" (instead of floor). Thinking she needed something for cooking, the store clerk gave her some baking oil. She then dutifully applied this to the floor. When the family came home, she said "doesn't my floor look nice". The family slid around on the floor and then looked at the bottle and discovered the mixup. The whole family enjoyed a good laugh about this, including Janke. It was alot of work to get it off.

Another funny incident (in retrospect) was when she needed some cream to clean her dentures, but accidentally bought Dentu-GRIP instead. After soaking them all night, the next morning she pulled the whole mix, including dentures, out of the cup in a single piece!

She was known as "Beppe" to the extended family (Frisian for Grandma).

She was an extremely neat and clean person and a good housekeeper. She was always hospitable and enjoyed having lots of people over. In around 1953, her parents came to live with them in Port Alberni (where their graves are).

In 1971, she went into St. Joseph Hospital in Victoria for a hip replacement. After the surgery, she fell down and developed a blood clot which was neglected for a few days by the staff. Unfortunately, no family member was able to check on her due to the distance from Port Alberni (about a 3-hour drive) and their many other work/family responsibilities. The fall caused the new hip to be dislocated, which caused alot of pain. She complained about this, but it wasn't taken seriously. Because she was in alot of pain, she didn't get up much and exercise, which is important after hip surgery. This likely led to the blood clot. Once the Dr. realized the hip was dislocated, they decided to re-operate. She never awakened from this 2nd surgery. She died at the hospital ?? Feb 1971. She was 64 years old. She was buried at Port Alberni cemetary.

Source: Family papers and memories

Siebe & Janke's grave at Port Alberni, BC, cemetery near those of her parents and their son Nico's (all near central evergreen tree)