Jacobus Poortenaar

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Jacobus Poortenaar

Our family is very sad to announce the passing of Jacobus (Jaap) Poortenaar.

Jaap (Opa) was born in Soerabaya, East Java, Netherlands East Indies on May 22, 1930 and passed away on November 10, 2025 in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

He was predeceased by both of his parents, Christiaan Carl Jacobus Poortenaar and Maria Anna Elizabeth Poortenaar Oosterling and recently by his beloved wife Catharina Johanna (Toos) Poortenaar Bode.

Growing up in the tropics, Jaap's childhood was idyllic, straight from a storybook and marred only by frequent absences of his father as his job as a sea captain took him away for long periods of time. Wanting a different experience when he brought up his own family, Jaap chose to be the first male in a long line of ocean-going naval officers to not take up that life.

He joined the Dutch Marines and welcomed the camaraderie, hard work, physical training, learning new skills and making new friends.

He was very mechanical and detailed, and he enjoyed the work immensely.

Jaap met the beautiful Catharina Johanna (Toos) Bode at a local dance and it was love at first sight. Dancing, movies and many adventures revealed they were a perfect match, and they would remain together for the rest of their lives.

They married in 1957 and welcomed their son Jacobus (Jack) who was born in Vlaardingen.

Jaap eventually found his calling working on repairing airplane engines and soon found work at KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines).

Ready for more adventures Jaap took a job with the DeKkroonduif (KLM) running the airport at the base of the Cyclops Mountains beside Sentani Meer (lake) in Hollandia, and Biak in the Netherlands Nieuw-Guinea.

At this time Jaap even had the opportunity to briefly meet and talk to Michael Rockefeller near the end of his fateful journey when he landed at Jaap's airport in late 1961.

The young family returned to the Netherlands and their second son Eddy (Ed) was born in Beilen.

It was a fantastic time to reconnect with family and friends, but Jaap needed to take the family on one last adventure

Thanks to Jaap's time volunteering with the UN (UNTEA) they were able to easily immigrate to their choice of five countries: USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa or stay in The Netherlands. Canada was the obvious choice, and the family emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Canada gave the family safety, peace, equality, freedom and of course the great outdoors. Jaap loved all that the great outdoors provided, fishing, boating, hunting and exploring ... all of which was done almost every weekend.

In short order Jaap had found his dream job at Standard Aero Engines and was hired by the companies’ founder Ernie Moncrieff.

Our family was one of the first in the Indo (Dutch/East Indies) community to settle in Winnipeg, and as such there were many occasions where we picked up newcomers to help orientate them, find housing and even temporarily house some in our home all in the effort to make them feel welcome in their new surroundings. These families became lifelong friends.

Sadly, our mother (Catharina) was diagnosed with Alzheimer - Dementia and struggled for many years before passing away in August 2025 in a personal care home.

Jaap eventually moved to an assisted living complex and was well taken care of for many years until his recent passing.

He will be missed very much by his sons Jacobus (Jack) (Guiliana) and Eddy (Ed) and his grandchildren Johanna, Cassandra, Christiaan and Kahleena. He will also leave his cherished family in the Netherlands and many friends.

Jaap will be remembered as a wonderful husband, father, grandfather (Opa) and friend to all that had the chance to meet him.

Even after all the hardships he had gone through in his youth he had a wonderful, amazing life with no room for hatred, prejudice or racism of any kind.

He lived and breathed Carpe Diem! (Seize the Day) and took us all along for that wild ride.

Our father (Opa) was a natural talented leader, always fair, strong, independent, very mechanically inclined and artistic. He is unforgettable and will be missed dearly.

Celebration of Life will be held at Mosaic Funeral Services on January 31, 2026, at 12:30 p.m.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 24, 2026