John van Gurp

My family consists of two main groupings. First and foremost, the single most important group of people in my life is my wife Heather, daughter Kate and son Peter. These are the most amazing people I know. My life revolves around these relationships.

The second group is my mother and siblings. Dad died in 2002, and my oldest sister Maria died in 2005. The remaining siblings are Hetty, Gerald, Susan and Carolyn. I am the youngest.

The Art of Margaret van Gurp (Mom)

My father died in August of 2002

My sister Maria Wilhelmina died in 2005

My Sister Hetty is founder and President of Peaceful Schools International

My Brother Gerald
Older brother Gerald has been living in Montreal’s Mile End with his family for the last 25 years, occasionally performing at neighbourhood venues an eclectic mélange of George Brassens, bossa nova, old time, jazz standards, etc.  Day job is general practice: emergency, palliative home care and office, all close to home.

My Sister Susan is a Vice Principal at a deaf school in Vancouver, BC
but is in the process of taking a year of leave to establish a new school for the hearing impaired in Mexico. It’s excitinf stuff, and she’s a perfect person for the project, having helped develop and run a similar project in Jocotepec, Jalisco Mexico 25 years ago.

My sister Carolyn is an Educator and Human Rights Activist currently embarking on what appears to be the most significant project of her life with an organization CDPeace which seeks to establish development mechanisms in Sierra Leone.

I have nephews and nieces as well who are all terrific individuals that I love dearly. Each has their own special qualities. I’ll add a link here to my nephew Joseph Adams because 1) he’s the only one of that generation I’m aware of with a presence on the web and 2) without his tutetlege I probably would never have been adept enough to set up this and the many other sites I maintain.

Note that everything below here is subject to edit for broken links etc

More information about Holland in World War 2 from my parents’ perspective

Why Canada? An essay about why my family emigrated to Canada.

Eventide A poem about the joy of solitude at a Central Queen’s County, Nova Scotia lake.

Travelogue A diary of a bicycle trip from Lubeck Germany, to The Hague, Netherlands following liberation from a Nazi camp in 1945.

Mouse A poem