Adriana Antonia Stellinga

Adriana Antonia Stellinga

On December 31, 2022 Adriana passed away peacefully at the age of 90 after a brief illness. A beloved mother of 5, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of 3. Adriana (née Van den Broek) was born on January 25, 1932 in Best, Netherlands, the youngest of three children. She later lived in Utrecht where she met and fell in love with Jan. She completed her nursing studies and then immigrated to Canada in 1955 to join the love of her life. Jan and Adriana were married in Toronto at the Fellowship Christian Reform Church in 1956. They had five children Robbert (Anita), Dennis, Monique, Tommy and Cindy. Growing up, the children heard stories about the war and how Adriana’s family sheltered Jewish families by providing them with safe refuge. She raised her family with love and dedication in Toronto, while working as a registered nurse at the Women’s College Hospital. She was devoted to her family, balancing her job and caring for her kids. It was very important to her to gather the family at the dinner table with a delicious supper to spend time together every single night. For many years, she was the President of a Dutch ladies club organizing many social and charitable functions to support the community and to share her love of Dutch culture.

She bore the difficult loss of her dear husband, Jan to cancer on January 25th, 2002. He died on her 70th birthday, marking it as a day for celebration and remembrance creating a spiritual bond that would be forever memorable to her and her loved ones.

She was the proud grandmother of Melanie (Pierre-Luc), Jade, Julie-Gabrielle, Priyanka (Raed), Elyse, Matthew, Alexis, Daphnée, Haley and Sabrina. She was also blessed with 3 great-grandchildren Paul, Simone & Clara. She was a talented knitter and loved to knit each new grandchild their own special outfit when they were born. She loved to cook and bake traditional Dutch foods and passed this love onto her many children and grandchildren. She enjoyed singing songs, reading and browsing the Shopping Channel. She was an avid collector of Royal Doulton dolls. She was a lover of animals and had many furry cat and dog companions over the years. She also loved horses and birds - she would often spot birds from her windows or backyard and could name many different types and species. Her sharp sense of wit was always present and she loved to keep her friends and family on their toes because they never knew what she would say or do next.

The family would like to give a special thanks to the staff team at Coleman Care Centre for the care, compassion and support as they went above and beyond to ensure she was comfortable and well cared for.

Details for a celebration of life will be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to Coleman Care Centre.