Danielle wrote the following pieces. I have to admit that the inspired alphabetic description of Mum brought me to
tears.
van Dreunen, Elizabeth Ruth, (née Appleton) died peacefully February 6, 2010 at Rideaucrest Home, Kingston, ON
after a bewildering encounter with Alzheimer’s, aged 86. Elizabeth van Dreunen, PhD, cherished wife, spirited
partner, and sweetheart of husband Daniel, married more than 60 years. Loving mother of Danielle in Kingston, ON
and Elizabeth (Normand) in Lawrencetown, NS.
Admired grandmother of Daniel Clark (Giselle) in Toronto and Jacob Bader (Sophia) in Ottawa. Brand-new great-
grandmother of Samantha Kelly Bader. Deeply beloved sister of Monica Behrend (Gunther) in Victoria and aunt to
family in Canada, UK, Netherlands, and Australia. Predeceased by her parents Charles and Mary, sister Dorothy,
and brothers James, Karl, and Llewellyn Appleton; and sons-in-law Terry Clark and Bob Bader. Born in Arnside, UK,
January 3, 1924; at home in England, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, US, France, Monaco, and Grand
Cayman.
Adventurous, brilliant, complex, determined, executive, fervent, gregarious, hard-to-convince, imposing, joyful,
knowledge-seeker, leaper-over-of-garbage cans, mum, nanny, obstinate, pioneer, quixotic, romantic,
Shakespearean-scholar, translator, unwavering, vivacious, writer, x-citable, youthful, and zestful. As per her wishes,
a celebration of her life will be held in the spring – when the bulbs bloom. The family is profoundly grateful to the
wonderful staff on Floor 2, Rideaucrest Home for the loving care they offered that was so thankfully received.
| Dearest Mum, I am eternally grateful for the time we had together. You will always be close to my heart. What a journey your life is... I am glad to be your daughter. As Danielle's younger sister, I have watched her care for Mum and Papa most of her lifetime. She has been an excellent role model of what a daughter can do for her mother and father. I am grateful to you Danielle for being there for Mum and Papa for so long. Thank you. |
| I have started this page for friends and family. If any of you would like to post a thought about Mum please e-mail it to me at evand@accesswave.ca and I will post it here. I will maintain the site until after the celebration of her life which will be occurring on April 18, 2010.Thanks to all of you who have already called. She will be missed by many. Elizabeth Mary van Dreunen 902 435 9366 |
| From our uncle Guenther: Monica and I just had a talk with Danny on the telephone to see how he is doing. We are so sad over Elizabeth's passing, even though it was expected for quite a while lately, it was just the same quite a shock. Monica has lived alongside her sister Elizabeth for much of her early life, in fact they went their occasional different ways only in 1945 or so. I myself, Guenther, met her first in Wuerzburg in summer 1949, when their parents were visiting them in Germany and when Monica and I were barely engaged to be married. And then she was with us on our wedding in Duesseldorf and provided her support when things were quite difficult for us. Later on in England we were invited by her and by Danny many times to spend a few days at their beautiful house in Ealing and meet with them at the parents' place at the Stoop in Hartley. Later on in Canada Elizabeth made quite a name for herself in the development of sales records of AVON in the Montreal and Quebec areas. But her work in the research for the true origin of the works of William Shakespeare resulted in important findings and discoveries that were ultimately logged in a splendid book which now rests in the libraries of many important universities and on the bookshelves of many people. Elizabeth spent many years also acting as an interpreter in the French language in the courts of Ontario, where her help was much appreciated. Elizabeth's work was very suddenly stopped through debilitating illness, from which she did not recover. We grieve over her loss and the loss of an Era. Monica and Guenther Behrend in Victoria. |
| Rest In Peace Elizabeth Ruth van Dreunen (née Appleton) 1924-2010 |