Dutch immigrant Teddy (Tettje Buisman) Van Stolk arrived in Canada in 1953. She was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 1920.
Teddy was an enlisted officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy. Rather than living in the officers mess it was quite the normal custom to house the members in typical large Dutch homes with spacious empty floors available to house military personnel.
It turned out that Teddy was being housed in the home of the parents where her future husband Pim (William) Van Stolk (deceased) had grown up and whom she had never met. They eventually met one another when Pim, who was living in Canada, came home for a family visit and of course they fell in love and got married.
Pim eventually had to return to Canada because his visa was about to expire. Teddy had to wait for her military discharge from the Navy so Pim had to return to Canada without her.
During Teddy's seven years in the Navy she worked in embassies in London and the Far East. She held various jobs at the Ministry of Naval Affairs in The Hague and of course there were always lavish banquets and dinner parties that she had to attend. She was quite used to all the high class ceremonies and the different cultures and loved every minute of it.
Eventually she was discharged from the Navy and headed to Canada by plane to join Pim.
Teddy said, "When I arrived in Prince George the shock of the vast wilderness and the primitiveness, compared to the 700 years of history in my homeland of Holland, was almost too much to comprehend. But then I saw him - there was Pim, waiting to greet me. I was in love and none of the rest really seemed to matter. We built a small shack on a lot on Redwood Street. Later on we bought the lot next door and built the family home. We lived there for the next ten years."
When Teddy arrived in Prince George, Pim was working for Kelly Douglas in the warehouse and Teddy got a job in the office. Later she worked for the Bank of Commerce until they started their family. Teddy stayed home and raised their two children Gerald and Jeanette; she now has two grand children.
They sold the house on Redwood and moved to Spruce Street, one block away from where the Hospice House is now located.
Pim became the produce manager at the Super Value store on Third Ave. and Victoria Street; right next to where the old Saan store used to be. He continued to be the produce manager when the store relocated to the corner of 20th Avenue and Victoria Street where the Japanese restaurant used to be. Back then the Super Value store was owned by Kelly Douglas & Co. Ltd.
Once the pulp mills came to town Pim quit the produce business and went into construction. From there he moved on to the Intercontinental Pulp Mill and worked in industrial first aid and security for the next 25 years until his retirement. Pim passed away in 2010.
When the children were grown and at the age of 53 Teddy went to work in the office at Northwood Pulp and Paper. Someone had recommended Teddy for the job; Northwood phoned and hired her for the position of Sales Coordinator for the pulp division. This was her ideal job and she loved it. She was hired because of her skills and her ability to speak Dutch, German, French and English. She retired in 1985 at the age of 65 not knowing who it was that initially recommended her for that job.
Teddy is a member of the Beta Sigma Phi and the Canadian Federation of University Women's Club (CFUW). The CFUW is a national equality-seeking organization promoting education, equality for women and girls, justice, human rights, and world peace.
Teddy volunteered for over 20 years and received an award of recognition for her work with the Navy League Wrenette program. The program was established in 1950 for young women 13 to 18 years old. In the mid-1970s the Department of National Defence allowed females into the cadet program and most Wrenettes became Sea Cadets. Finally the Wrenette program and the Navy League Cadet program for boys were later merged into a single cadet program.
Teddy will be 95 in November and her goal is to stay active. Her eye site was a bit of a problem so she gave up her driver's license at the age of 92.
Teddy currently resides at the Chateau and enjoys carpet bowling twice a week and she plays bridge every Friday.
She has traveled all over the world during her 94 years on this earth and she has a museum of souvenirs to prove it. With a twinkle in her eye Teddy cheerfully said, "And I'm not done traveling just yet."
