On the morning of September 3, 2022 Lydia de Schepper passed away at the age of 85 at home. Lydia had just celebrated her 62nd wedding anniversary with her husband, Roland the previous day. In addition to Roland, Lydia is also survived by her sons, Clifford (Maki) and Brian (Lisa), and her four grandchildren, Peter (Meghan), Mitchell (Alisa), Desmond and Lucas.
Lydia was born the oldest of 5 siblings and raised in Haarlem, Holland; she survived the hardships of WW2 in her early childhood. She adored her father who tragically passed away when she was just 17 years old creating a wound that would stay with her, her entire life. Lydia met Roland in 1952 and immigrated to Canada in 1960. Lydia and Roland started their life together in Canada living in the Pit Polder (near Pitt Meadows, BC), prior to living in North Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast before eventually moving near Victoria, BC where she has resided over the last 33 years.
Lydia loved children, which was a large part of why she chose to become a special-needs, early childhood educator. Helping special needs children was one of the many unique gifts that Lydia shared with the world. She positively impacted hundreds of children throughout her career. She also had a love for music, often playing her autoharp which perfectly complimented her work with children. A cross-stitch expert she won various prizes and accolades for the many pieces she created. Throughout her entire life she loved to travel and see the world; in particular she made many trips back to her homeland always keeping in touch with family and friends. She was a great cook and loved to entertain friends and family at her legendary dinner parties. In more recent years she developed a strong bond with all of her grandchildren.
Lydia’s incredible positive energy left a lasting impression. Her passing leaves a void to everyone who knew her; her radiating smile will be missed by all.
A Celebration of Lydia’s life was held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens on Monday September 19th, 2022 at 10:00am. Click the image below to watch a recording of the service.
Click the image below to watch a video tribute of Lydia.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
24 Responses
Thanks for the livestream from Lydia”s ceremony. It was very impressing and the pictures wonderful. It brought back many good memories. . I will always remember my eldest sister and her stories. Love to you all from Yvonne, Peter, Pieter, Daan en George.
When we immigrated to Canada, we got to know Roland and Lydia through Lydia’s dear friend Jes.
Roland and Lydia opened up their home to us and we felt very welcome. When our boys were still young Lydia was as a grandmother to them. We had several visits and always Roland and Lydia made sure we had a good time. We live in Kelowna and were happy to be able to host them one time.
She was a very special lady with a big heart and a beautiful smile. She will be missed dearly.
We wish Roland and the rest of the family all the love and support to go through this difficult time.
Paul and Rianne, Tim and Jeroen
Thank you Lydia for your bright, creative spark of energy, your smile is contagious, in life and in pictures. Your absence has a tremendous impact to your grandsons, they were not prepared to be without their Oma, though you will continue to be in their hearts and minds.
My condolences to Lydia’s wide circle of family and friends, she will be dearly missed.
Today’s service in her honour was beautiful, the photo presentation so moving, thank you for livestreaming and recording it for those who could not attend today in person.
With care,
Laurel (Desmond and Lucas’s mom)
Dear Roland, Brian, Cliff and family,
It certainly was a sad message to understand that our niece Lydia has past away.
As a very young boy I remember her in the years 1950 onwards, as a very happy oldest daughter of the Immer family (her mother was one of the sisters of my father Tijn) and my mother Truus was certainly very fond of Lydia.! I can still imagine how often she liked to come to the Cafe on the Koudehorn/Spaarne in Haarlem, to play music on our piano and to make dances with the friends and family. Of course she was in those years frequently with our grandmother in the house on the Hooimarkt…..to play on that beautiful piano. My 3year old brother Tijn always had fun with Lydia, and we always talked about our sports like hockey/baseball and friends of Bloemendaal football, of which her father was the coach.! About 6/7 years ago we decided that we should make an exchange of our houses and Lydia and Roland lived 4 weeks in our house in Aerdenhout and we enjoyed very much our trip to Canada, Vancouver Island in their house….fantastic.!
Our condolences our also from our son Nicolaas, Marissa and Muriel. But also from brother Tijn and Anneke.
To Roland our best wishes for a future without our beloved Lydia.
Han and Corinne