Elizabeth Trijntje Nienhuis Kruize, 84, slipped into the presence of the Lord Jesus early Monday morning, February 9, 2009, at Menno Hospital in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.
Mrs. Kruize was born in the Bierum municipality in Groningen, The Netherlands, on March 2, 1924 to Willem Nienhuis and Grietje (Norden) Nienhuis, the youngest of four daughters,
The family moved to the town of Spijk when she was a youngster. She attended a Christian elementary school in Spijk through the seventh grade. As many Dutch girls did during the years following the depression, she immediately became a maid to various families as she was needed. She also worked in the tulip fields to harvest the bulbs in the summer months. In 1958, she began corresponding with a Dutch immigrant, Albertus Kruize, who had come to Canada in 1950. After a year of faithful communication, he left behind his little farm in Alberta and took a ship across the Atlantic to meet her in person for the first time. They found they were quite compatible in so many ways, became engaged within a few weeks, and were married February 13, 1959, in Spijk.
A couple of months later, they boarded another ship and traveled to Canada together to make their home in Vauxhall, Alberta. A year later, they moved to the Fraser Valley, where the pastures were greener, and began their family. Mr. Kruize worked as a dairy farm supervisor and carpenter’s hand for several years before the family ended up in Agassiz, first renting a dairy farm of their own, then buying one.
They farmed there for 20 years before retiring and moving to town. Since her husband’s death she moved into Tabor Home and then to Menno Hospital where she was looked after lovingly till her passing.
Mrs. Kruize was preceded in death by her parents in 1961, her husband in 2004, a grand-daughter, Amelia, in 2000, and her sisters, Wipke Schipper, Jantje Schipper, and Els Nienhuis.
She is survived by her three children: Grace Broyles of Tuscola, Texas, Thalia Darel of Princeton, B.C. and Bernie Kruize of Aldergrove, B.C.; nine grandchildren: Victor and his wife Annette, Chandra and Julie Darel, Benjamin and Abigail Broyles, Dustin, Tyson and Jordan Kruize; one brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law; many nieces and nephews in both Canada and The Netherlands.
Services will be held Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at Emmanuel Covenant Reformed Church. Abbotsford.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Menno Hospital, Abbotsford, B.C.