It is with great sadness, we announce the passing of our caring and dedicated father, Joe (William Johannes) Buitenhuis, on June 11, 2017 at the age of 94 years.
Joe was born in Raymore, SK on March 22, 1923 to John (Jan) Buitenhuis and Molly (Mary Turner) Buitenhuis. Joe was the second-born and last surviving of four children. Pre-deceased by his wife of 66 years, Betty on September 20, 2016, Joe was a resident of Roseview Manor in Thunder Bay.
Mourning their loss, but with many memories, are Betty and Joe’s five children: daughter Lydia Janice Elizabeth (nee Buitenhuis) of Carleton Place, ON; sons John (Susan) Buitenhuis and David Buitenhuis of Thunder Bay, ON; son Donald Buitenhuis of Stittsville, ON; and daughter Judy Buitenhuis of Parksville, BC. Grandpa Joe will be remembered fondly by his granddaughters Sherry Minnella (Carmen), Kristen Buitenhuis, Ashley Buitenhuis, Katie Elizabeth Dixon, Alyssa Buitenhuis; and grandsons Stephen Buitenhuis and Derek Buitenhuis, as well as many nephews and nieces. Joe was blessed with two great grandchildren, Luca and Alia Minnella.
After serving during WWII in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Joe graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, where he met his sweetheart Betty (Fernell) whom he married on November 5, 1949. His first job in May 1949 was with Ontario Hydro at the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station in Niagara Falls, ON, where Betty and Joe’s five children were born. Joe’s 40-year career with Ontario Hydro included many management positions that took him to Cameron Falls, Ontario in 1968 and Thunder Bay in 1971, until his retirement on February 1, 1989, at which time he was the Northwestern Regional Acting Director.
Throughout his busy career, Joe always had time for both his extended and immediate family. He would travel west regularly to help on his brother’s farm in Saskatchewan and expressed his farming roots through gardening, growing both flowers and vegetables, at his home on Hogarth Street.
Joe enjoyed dancing (particularly square dancing) with wife Betty, bridge, curling, cross-country skiing, and long walks, not to mention spending time with his grandchildren. After retirement, Joe explored oil painting and settled into wood carving of character figures from his life’s memories of people and places, many of which found their way into the homes of family and friends.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Joe on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 from 5:30 to 8 pm at Roseview Manor, 99 Shuniah Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario, with a more formal recognition from family and friends between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Please join us to remember Joe and celebrate his life.
