Sobey Wall of Honour
Column
168
Row
2
This is the story of how Petronella Helena Van Luxemburg Seiferling came to arrive in Canada through Pier 21 on her way to her life in Saskatchewan, as recalled by her children.
Born in Kaatsheuvel, Holland in 1924, Mum often talked about how her later teen years were “lost” because of the war; it started when she was 15, at the same time her mother died, and did not end until she was turning 20. She worked at a local grocery store, the Spar, during these years.
Meanwhile, our father Raymond Seiferling, born on a farm near Sedley, Saskatchewan in 1920, enlisted in the army with the South Alberta Regiment in 1939. He was stationed in Holland, and met Mum at a dance, where he “chose her from a line”. They were married in January 1946. Shortly afterward, Dad returned to Canada to establish their home in Sedley while Mum remained in Holland to await the birth of their first-born, Flora.
Mum and Flora arrived at Pier 21 on October 17, 1946 on the ship ‘Aquitania’. Upon arrival in Halifax, both Mum and Flora were in quarantine in Halifax due to illness. Their next step was a four-day train ride to her new home in Saskatchewan – their ride from the train station in Regina to their new home in the town of Sedley was in a horse-drawn sleigh in a typical Saskatchewan blizzard on the wide open prairie. She faced the usual difficulties of the immigrant, both learning the language (reading ‘Blondie’ in the comic section of the newspaper and listening to country music) and also learning the general ways of life in Canada. During the first years of their marriage, they had no running water and no electricity!
Adding to the family, eight more children were born – Larry (1947), Jim (1948), Rose (1949), Lu (1951), Dian (1954), Randy (1957), Cindy (1958) and Bernadette (1960). As of 2014, when this was written, there are 22 grandchildren, and 14 great- grandchildren (and growing).
Two of her sisters also immigrated to Canada and they, along with her remaining six siblings in Holland, supported her through both good and difficult times. However, she was homesick for her “little Holland” her whole life, and wasn’t able to return for a visit until 20 years after she landed in Canada at Pier 21.
Mum passed away in 1984 at the young age of 60, and Dad passed in 1988, two days before his 68th birthday.
Lovingly remembered through the following photo gallery:
