Farming still occupation of choice among Bredenhof clan

After fifty years in Canada

SURREY, British Columbia - The idea of holding a family reunion to commemorate their arrival in Canada 50 years ago, over time gained support and even enthusiasm in the extended W.H. Bredenhof family. The reunion was missed by only one grandson and his fiancee in Ontario because the event’s date conflicted with school exams.

Bredenhof Sr., a farmer’s son from the Heerde vicinity, who resigned as police chief of Hasselt (north of Zwolle, Overijssel) in 1951 with hopes of starting a farm in Canada, first raised the 50th anniversary issue with his children about a year ago. While most of the family resides nearby in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, B.C., it still took some pursuasion to get everyone interested in the reunion.

The goal of farming in Canada certainly was accomplished. The Bredenhofs started out with chickens and later also added a dairy farm to their operation. Six of the eight children are continuing with their own farms while oldest son Lloyd has made a career with the RCMP.