Hendrika NEUBURGER (née Klijn)
1929 - 2024
It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved and loving mom and Oma, two months shy of her 95th birthday. Beloved wife of the late André, she leaves her dear children Karen, David, Naomi, Stephen and their partners, and her adored grandchildren. She was sadly predeceased by her dear son John.
Born in Amsterdam to the late Albertus Klijn and Elisabeth (van der Zee), Hendrika (or, Henny) was a strong-minded, creative, and intellectual person. She lived through the war in Holland, including the ‘hunger winter’, and subsequently immigrated to Canada in 1955 with the love of her life, André.
The life that our mom built with our dad was so very special and such an example to us all. Henny was creative (painting, pottery, sewing, and more), an early follower of the benefits of ‘health food’, believed in fresh air and movement, was a voracious reader, writer, lover of music, and deeply spiritual. She attended university while raising her children and graduated with B.A. and M.A. degrees from Concordia. She later studied for and became a Guide at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, attended and facilitated classes with André at McGill’s Community for Lifelong Learning, and spent hours writing and subsequently self-publishing two books of prose and short stories.
But more than anything our mom loved her family – our dad who she loved so very deeply, and her five children and subsequently their partners and her grandchildren. She was never happier than when we were all together.
We will miss our mom and Oma dearly, but do expect that Henny and André are now, once again, holding hands and smiling at each other.
Henny’s life was celebrated with a small gathering of family and longtime family friends.
