Douwe and Hinke Neef and Family

Douwe (David) Neef, age 38, Hinke (Helen) (van der Duim) Neef, age 37 and their four children Hans (Hank), age 12, Maria Hinke, age 11, Aaltje (Alice), age 9 and Anna Maria, age 2, left Rotterdam, the Netherlands on April 5, 1954 and landed in Halifax at Pier 21 on April 12, 1954. They spent the night in Pier 21, the women in one building, the men in another. The trip from the Netherlands was made on the maiden voyage of the Zuiderkruis. Since the Zuiderkruis was on its way to Indonesia, most of the crew on this luxury liner were Japanese. The family was able to stay together in one cabin. One evening during a bad storm, Douwe and Hans went to a film but by the end of the film they were the only ones left as everyone else had gone to their cabin seasick. The only one of the family who was seasick most of the trip was Maria. The three girls spent most days in the children's play room and Hans spent his days roaming the ship or in the kitchen. The kitchen was full of excellent food and delicacies they had not seen in the Netherlands - oranges, ice cream, fresh fruit and other desserts. It was a real vacation for Douwe and Hinke since Douwe had worked 60 to 80 hours per week (except Sundays), every week of every year for 26 years.

Since the sponsors for the family were situated in both Chatham, Ontario and in Salisbury, NB, tickets were given to them for the train ride to Chatham, Ontario. However the farmer who was going to house them lived near Salisbury, NB. After a confusing sign-language conversation with a conductor, the family got on the train to Salisbury, however, their crate was on its way to Chatham, Ontario. Fortunately the crate was stopped in Moncton and rerouted to Salisbury. The family spent three years in New Brunswick and then headed to the St. Thomas, Ontario area. Douwe worked as a farmer for the first four years. He then became involved in construction. Here he learned the trade of finishing carpenter. Now he was able to provide for his family. Even working day and night had not been enough to provide food, shelter and clothing for the family. Douwe saw no future for his children in the Netherlands. That was the main reason for their immigration.