Arie Schep.Courtesy of family
Arie (Harry) Schep: Patriarch. Athlete. Joker. Adventurer. Born April 17, 1929, in Utrecht, the Netherlands; died May 10, 2024, in Ottawa, of heart failure, aged 95.
“What’s purple and flies in the sky?”
Harry Schep often asked this during long car rides, a way of distracting the kids when his family of six were crammed into a vehicle. The answer to his favourite joke was ever-changing: first, it was a purple refrigerator being pulled by an airplane. Later, it would be a purple stove being pulled by an airplane, and so on. He’d keep them guessing to pass the time. Harry loved his jokes, and even if he was the only one who found them funny, this never stopped him from telling them again and again.
Arie was born a twin and one of five children to Arie and Janne Schep.
In his early 20s, he met Elizabeth Wisse at a weekend social at Wassenaars’ dunes near The Hague. Attendees were assigned chores, and while peeling potatoes Elizabeth was approached by Arie, who was entranced by the watery blue of her eyes. They made a date to visit the tulip fields north of Leiden soon after, and he began regularly cycling the 13 kilometres between their homes to visit.
There were few job prospects in The Netherlands in the devastating aftermath of the Second World War and Arie wanted to seek a new life abroad. He proposed to Elizabeth before immigrating to Toronto in May, 1954. Elizabeth joined him the following January, landing in Halifax and taking a train to meet him in Toronto. They married on March 5, 1955, in Hamilton, and had a small party with friends who had also newly arrived to Canada from the Netherlands.
Arie became Harry in Canada, and while he had once worked as a bookkeeper, early jobs in Canada were in labour. At one company, staff discovered his aptitude for bookkeeping and promoted him. His work brought Harry and his growing family to Barrie, where he began his Certified Professional Accountant course, and sought Elizabeth’s help in illustrating his thesis, given her artistic talent and the skills she refined in art school.
From Barrie, the family moved to Perth, Ont., when Harry was offered an executive position at the International Silver Company. After 15 years, Harry began working for the federal government and the family moved to Ottawa. This was their home for the next 40 years and where he and Elizabeth were devoted members of Calvin Christian Reformed Church.
Harry and Elizabeth instilled a love of music, nature and adventure in their four children, Winona, Gerald, Michael and Andrew. Harry loved showing his kids how he could walk down a hallway on his hands and taking them on adventures outdoors. He windsurfed, sailed, canoed, bicycled and skied, which he learned alongside his family on many Saturdays at Calabogie Peaks ski resort.
Harry continued downhill skiing well into his late 80s, joining grandchildren on March break ski trips and apres-ski fun. He played games and took dares like leaving the hot tub to roll around in the snow.
Not one to talk openly about emotions, Harry showed his love through humour and playfulness. He had 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren and they were all familiar with his fish face – he’d suck in his cheeks, bug out and cross his eyes, pucker his lips and move them like a fish underwater. It was impossible not to laugh.
Harry clung to his convictions like he stuck to his jokes. During large family gatherings it was typical to hear not only laughter, but heated debates between Harry and opinionated family members over politics and world affairs.
He never let age hold him back. At 92, Harry saw someone decades younger on a stand-up paddle board at the family cottage. “That looks easy!” he exclaimed and within minutes, he was trying it himself. Harry fell off within seconds (thankfully, with no resulting injuries) but his fearlessness in seeking adventure always spurred those around him to be more daring and have more fun.
Laura Schep is Harry’s granddaughter.
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