Obituary of Doreen Loretta May Van Der Horst

Doreen Loretta May Van Der Horst Doreen Boisclair - Van Der Horst was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She grew up in a little community called Fisher Branch, a place she talked about often and affectionately, of all her growing up years with her family and extended family. In 1978, Doreen, her husband John, and sons Paul and Stephen followed her Aunt Maybelle and Uncle Keith to Dawson Creek, B.C. John continued his career as a drug and alcohol counsellor and Doreen continued to raise their boys. Doreen started a daycare in her home and that is how I met Doreen in 1988, through a babysitter I had hired for my son. It is not surprising that I met Doreen this way as this was her profession for many, many years in Dawson Creek. My grandson and my nephew were both cared for by her as well. If we could contact all the children she looked after in her home, I am sure we would fill a small auditorium, and a good number of them will be parents themselves by now. Doreen continued her in home daycare right up until 2013, the last 2 years being part time. Many mothers counted on Doreen to work any shift. For many years she worked days, evenings, and weekends - a service that was not found easily. The children were always treated as her own. She made a caring, loving environment, but also taught them to mind and share. Some of the children even went camping and fishing with her on weekends along with Paul and Stephen. Doreen loved fishing, camping, and hunting with her family and her dogs. Her favourite place to take her kids was up the Sukunka River, southeast of Chetwynd. She shared many stories of her camping adventures with me and her trips up the Sukunka with her family and even by herself a few times, her dogs always her guards. Doreen's Aunt Maybelle and Uncle Keith lived in Chetwynd, where she often travelled to and would spend the weekends there to visit or work on some project that was at hand. She often ended up travelling back home in the dark and I remember one of her trips she had an encounter with a bear on the highway. We shared so many stories. While Doreen was busy looking after all her little ones, she was also busy raising her own teenage sons. Her oldest son, Paul, graduated from high school and was moving into the workforce and Stephen was finishing high school, while John was in the midst of changing careers and joining the B.C. Ambulance Service. The new job took John away from the family on and off for a few years. Being on her own a lot of the time did not bother Doreen in the least, she just continued being busy with her boys and daycare. Her youngest son, Stephen, was born with some physical difficulties and Doreen worked very hard and long to do everything she could to help him achieve his goals and give him every possible opportunity. The public school system was not yet readily set up to accommodate physically challenged students at all. Doreen worked and fought hard for her son in the School Board system. Many people would not know that Doreen's hard work and determination laid a lot of the groundwork that is in place today for our school system in Dawson Creek. Don't think for a minute that Stephen did not partake in all the camping trips, she carried him if she had to, with Paul helping her. Doreen also had a great love for gardening and growing food for her family. Her kids loved gardening with her. She always had a beautiful yard with many flowers, shrubs, and fruit trees. She even carved the Star of David in her front lawn and filled it with flowers, many people walking by would stop and look at her yard and comment on how beautiful it was. She was busy all summer long growing, weeding, and trimming her trees and raspberries. Doreen is the only person I know in Dawson Creek that had a crop of dark purple grapes every year. She generously shared her grapes and apple crops with me each year. I enjoyed the grape jelly and apples to eat from my dear friend. Doreen had her times of great loss also. In 1995, she lost her eldest son Paul in a terrible accident. It devastated her, but she carried on and continued to care for her daycare children and they helped her through this terrible heartache. Soon after this John was able to bring his work back home again so he would be close to Doreen all the time. Through this time, they were able to enjoy more time together and were able to go travelling and camping a little. Her youngest son, Stephen, graduated from high school and quite soon was set up in his own new apartment, a time that she and Stephen shared with joy. She loved to see him accomplish this and be able to see him live with independence. Not long after this Stephen was married to Michelle. Then in 2005, Doreen was hit with another blow when her husband John died suddenly and unexpectedly. It was another great stumbling block for Doreen to overcome. She suffered her loss and was able to pick herself up once more and carry on with Stephen helping her to continue on. She kept working with her little ones that always gave her so much joy. Over the years Doreen, my mom Vi, and myself had built a long and great friendship. We had very many good times and laughs together over a good cup of coffee. No one, by the way, made a better cup of coffee than Doreen. Mom and Doreen loved to play bingo, which I may add Doreen was pretty lucky and had some pretty big wins, one was a big screen TV and also a big bike. Then when the bingo hall turned into a casino, we all enjoyed going and trying out our luck. Again, Doreen was the lucky one and did very well winning enough to totally renovate her kitchen and dining room. She told me about her and my mom's fun trips to Grande Prairie. They went to the big casino on a few occasions when they were making their way home driving through Beaverlodge in the wee hours of the morning and they even got pulled over by the police wondering what they were up to at such an hour! Something my mom and Doreen had not mentioned to me at the time. Then one day Doreen got a call from the local casino telling that she won 8 thousand dollars. She just laughed and said what is this a joke? What's the catch? She just did not believe it. They had to talk a long time to get her to come down and see them, even when she walked in the door she was still just laughing, sure that it was a joke. But it wasn't. They handed her a cheque for 8 thousand for winning a contest she didn't even know she was entered into. Doreen's other loves of her life were, of course, her animals. She had many over the years and loved and cared for them just as much as her children. She talked about her cat Sammy, even though she had a cat allergy. At some point she had a house rabbit and she always had a dog and usually two at a time. I swear they all thought they were people. She lost her last puppy last year, but was just not ready to get another one. Her pets were cremated and laid to rest where she always said she would be also, with her son and husband. I have known and loved my dear friend for close to 30 years now. I loved her dearly and cannot imagine life without her. Doreen stood strong for the weak and disadvantaged, she loved life and all that it had in store for her. When she was down she always picked herself up and carried on. A little lady with a huge heart and a cute little giggle I will never forget. Since I moved away from Dawson Creek two years ago, Doreen has called often and we continued to keep in close contact. Love you so much my friend, see you later when we meet again. Doreen my friend forever by Karen Wetherill Service 1:00 pm Monday, January 18, 2016 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 10901-13th Street DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada