John Spek

Johannes "John" Spek of Gladstone, MB died peacefully and in the arms of his loving wife on November 1, 2017 at the age of 89 years. John was born on June 29th, 1928 in the town of Streefkerk, South Holland, Netherlands to Dirk Spek and Neeltje Van der Bas-Spek. After his father's passing in 1936, he became the man of the house and went to work to help support his family. He was 8 years old. He continued to attend school until the 6th grade and at the age of 12, he experienced the Nazi invasion of South Holland which was centered in Rotterdam, a city 20 kilometers east of his home. As a teenager, he travelled to North Holland to work for a farmer near the town of Nieuwe Niedorp. On his mother's first visit to see him, she met a neighbouring farmer whom she eventually married. John continued to work and live in the area with his mother, step-father Jan Hagen, and two sisters, Berta and Dina. On May 16, 1950 he immigrated to Canada. When his ship docked at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he had only 12 dollars in his pocket. He worked at several jobs, including a time as a ranch hand in Alberta, for E.S. Browning in Ogilvie, and eventually in Gladstone as a mechanic at both the McAskill Garage, and McLaughlin's Garage. It was during this time that he decided to write home to his sweetheart, Maria (Mary) Johanna Puhl and ask her to marry him and join him in Canada. Due to immigration laws, they were married by proxy on May 16, 1951, him in Canada, and her still in Holland. After a traumatic stomach surgery in 1963, he began to drink heavily and struggled with alcoholism for 8 years until he decided to become a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. By the grace of God, he recovered, and enjoyed 46 years of sobriety. In 1952, he purchased a milk delivery business from Nick Heuvel. He owned and operated Spek's Milk Service for 19 years and eventually sold the business to his son Dirk. He then launched his new business, Spek's Refrigeration which ran for many years until he accepted a position as the maintenance supervisor at Seven Regions Health Centre. Even in his retirement, he never quit working, continuing to do air conditioning repairs, volunteering as a driver for Cancer Care and using his multitude of self-taught skills to keep his family’s' homes and vehicles in good working order.
John was a self made man and in 1958 he designed and built "the houseboat" from the ground up, eventually launching it on the shores of the Whitemud River at the family farm of Fred and Frank Poschenrieder. For over 50 summers, the houseboat was docked at the Poschenrieder farm where lasting friendships were formed with Fred's sons, Earl and George. John was a strong, ambitious man who was always willing to take the risk in order to discover the potential reward and this fortitude of spirit was present in his death, just as it was in his life. He never wanted to give up, and he lived out his final days with the same independence and fearlessness that brought him across the ocean 67 years before. For this, we admire him. He was a strong minded and intuitive man, making decisions and discussing his wishes up until the final hours of his life. He was a sensitive and intelligent man who spoke about his belief in God quietly and humbly. When asked about life after death, he simply said "it's faith." Regardless of his building health struggles, he continually insisted that he had no pain and when his time came to pass, his soul went peacefully to the heavens. For this we are so thankful. There are so many ways to describe this man that we called husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. But now, we will remember him as the proud Dutchman that took the risk and reaped the rewards, living out his days in his home on the Crescent with his wife, his cat and his pipe.
John is survived by his wife of 66 years, Mary; his 5 children, Dirk Spek (Gwen), Rita Spek-Robidoux (Louis), Nel McLarty (Maurice), Joanne Doell (Brad) and Jannette Besser (Howard); sisters, Berta v.d.Ben-Spek and Dina Boontjes-Spek and families; brother-in-law, Bob Bonte and family; 14 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and numerous relatives still residing in Holland. He was preceded in death by his daughter and son-in-law, Alfreda and Mark Johnson; parents, Dirk and Neeltje; stepfather Jan Hagen; mother-in-law, Maria Johanna Puhl; brother-in-laws, Jan Boontjes and Jan v.d.Ben, and sister-in-law, Elizabeth Bonte.

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