In Memoriam: Rev. Peter Van Egmond

Peter Van Egmond, 82, a friend of God, was linguistically gifted and given to gentle humor. A diligent pastor, he died of cardiac arrest on December 14, 2013.

He was born in 1931 in Rhijnsburg, the Netherlands. That area of the Holland was painfully affected by the “Hunger-Winter” of 1944-45, which also delayed his education for a year.

Following his migration to Canada, Van Egmond enrolled at Calvin College and Seminary, graduating in 1957.

Van Egmond served the following Christian Reformed congregations: Iron Springs (Alberta) CRC; Riverside CRC, Wellandport, Ontario; First CRC, Kingston, Ontario; Gateway Community CRC, Abbotsford, British Columbia; and Rehoboth CRC, Toronto, Ontario. He spent his last 20 years of ministry devoted to the residents of Holland Christian Homes in Brampton, Ontario. He retired in 2007 after 50 years of active ministry.

Van Egmond was compassionate and industrious. He was a voracious reader and a fine writer whose interests were many. For twenty years he produced a weekly column for De Nederlandse Courant, a Dutch biweekly printed in Ontario. His relationships were ennobled by sympathetic understanding and humor. His heart ached for the persecuted church. He was well-versed about the complex relationships of the Middle East.

Van Egmond was very physically active: a passionate walker, runner, mountain climber, cross-country skier, and swimmer. He walked “virtually” across Canada, starting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in January 2012, marking his daily walk on a map of Canada. He reached the border of British Columbia just before his death. His family joked that he had reached the “promised land.”

Van Egmond is survived by his wife, Jenny, their children John, Eric and Evelyn Van Egmond, Peter and Cathy Van Egmond, Lianne and Mark Hovingh, and Michael and Karen Van Egmond, and by 23 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.