September 17, 1932 - November 15, 2021
Joanne (van Drecht) Giesbrecht was born September 17, 1932 in Kamsack, Saskatchewan to Dutch parents, Gerard and Johanna (de Klerk) van Drecht, who had only 3 years earlier immigrated to Canada. She passed away on November 15, 2021 in the Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
After completing high school in Makaroff, Manitoba, Joanne enrolled in the University of Manitoba, completing her Normal School training in 1952. After several years of teaching in Manitoba, she moved to BC in 1956, settling in Gold River where she met her future husband.
Joanne and Henry Giesbrecht were married in Vancouver on December 27, 1958. On December 27, 2008 Henry and Joanne were blessed to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in the company of many friends and family.
For three decades Joanne had her own nutritional consulting business, which often took her to national and international conventions. She particularly enjoyed spending time with clients, where consultation often turned into extended visits.
True to her Dutch heritage, Joanne loved gardening, each summer resulting in an abundance of produce that she enjoyed sharing with friends and neighbours.
Wherever Joanne lived, she gave herself to participating in local community life. Of great importance to her was a personal faith in Jesus Christ, including membership in a local church. For 17 years she was a volunteer in the Seven Oaks Alliance Church (Abbotsford) Awana children's ministry. She was baptized in the Mission Baptist Church in 1968.
Predeceasing her were her husband Henry, her daughter-in-law Donna, her sister Sonja (Bill) Ramsay, and her brothers Gerald and Dennis. She leaves to mourn three children, Dennis (Anna), Randy (Lorain), Gary (Annette) four grandchildren, John Henry, Sara, Ashley and Adam, siblings Cedric (Shirley) van Drecht in Churchbridge, SK, Audrey (Jim) Ashton, Selkirk, MB, and Reg (Sheila) van Drecht in Fredericton, NB, in addition to numerous nieces and nephews and extended family members in the Netherlands.
A celebration of life for Joanne will be celebrated at a later time.