Giel, Els, Jack Jonkhout

We, my wife Els, son Jack and myself arrived from Holland on Pier 21- Friday, April 2. 1954. I was 28 years old (born 1926), my wife 26 years (1928) and our son was born June 21, 1953. We sailed on the S.S. Waterman. We travelled by train to Toronto arriving at Union Station early Sunday morning- April 4, 1954. Friends picked us up, they lived in Richmond Hill, Ontario at that time and we spent our first 6 weeks with them.

My wife Els was pregnant when we left Holland and our second baby (daughter Phyllis) was born at York County Hospital in Newmarket on June 22, 1954.

We always had been living in a country setting, North of Toronto. Langstaff, Richmond Hill, Elgin Mills area and since 1965, Newmarket, Ontario.

In the early years I had different jobs, but landed a good position in 1957 with TransCanada Pipelines, who were building a Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline from Alberta to Montreal. I had several positions in their Electrical Design Group- Engineering Department. One of my functions was Electrical Inspector during the construction of the pumping stations across the country, so I traveled the Trans Canada Highway from the Alberta- Saskatchewan border to Montreal many times. I retired (early in 1984) and after that time I was supervisor in the Electrical Drafting section.

My wife and I kept in touch with family in Holland by writing weekly letters home and we also received mail on a weekly basis. A remarkable thing- I'd like to mention here- my weekly letters written over these past 45 years are on file with one of my brothers in Holland (approx. 2250). We are working to put this in a storybook for our children and grandchildren.

We have been fortunate to be able to go back to visit our families in Maastricht, Holland on a regular basis. We kept records of all these trips and they are all listed in the family archives. During these past 45 years, 12 members of our family here in Canada have made 78 trips to Holland and in that time span 30 family members from Holland made 66 trips to Canada.

Our parents in Holland all have died, but here are still family ties with the brothers and sisters and also with nieces and nephews as seen by the numerous trips above.

Thank you for establishing this historic place in memory of the thousands and thousands who arrive in Canada over the years.