Elske Jansen

Elske (Ellie) Jansen deeply valued education as a means to transform unjust structures and practices. She also valued lifelong learning, a spirit of curiosity and engagement. Actively supporting her children’s and grandchildren’s education, she reminded us of its value whenever we announced plans to marry or have children: “What about your degree?”whatever path they took, she was fiercely proud of their accomplishments.

Elske fought hard for her own education. Shortly after immigrating to Canada from Fryslân (Netherlands) in 1950, she high school to support the family. She worked in insurance, radio, and television, moving to Victoria in her early 20s. After marrying John Stadt in 1960, and the births of Heather (1961) and Ken (1963), she completed high school by correspondence. Following the birth of Andrew (1968), she began university, ultimately graduating with an Honour’s BA in English from SFU in 1978. She would have loved to do a PhD in English or to study law, but she chose what she saw as a more practical path and became a Chartered Accountant (CA). Starting her career in her mid-40s, she worked for the BC Provincial Government until retirement in various roles, ending as the Director of Information and Privacy in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. She used to joke that CA stood for “can’t add” as little of her work involved accounting. What she did was a good fit for someone who loved the big picture, understood structures and processes, and wanted to transform them to serve people well.

Elske raised her children to be independent problem-solvers, to be curious and open-minded about the world, and to see faith as a source of hope and direction, a wellspring of generosity and compassion. She maintained strong ties with all three throughout her life, and embraced their spouses—Anthony, Sandie, and Tammy—and her grandchildren: Teresa, Erin, Nick, and Adam. She also welcomed the recent arrival of great-grandchildren: Kendall and Bennett (Erin), Claire and Rachel (Teresa).

Her brother and sisters (John, Wybrig, Greta, Irene, and Willie) were also dear to her. They emailed daily for years, and during the pandemic they began a tradition of meeting every Friday morning on zoom. She enjoyed her nieces and nephews and was always happy to provide accommodation at Hotel Ellie.

After divorcing John in the late 1980s, she maintained a friendly and caring relationship with John’s family. She cherished her many friendships gained through colleagues, church connections, the Canadian Federation of University Women, walking groups, book and bridge clubs.

After retirement, she found a second career teaching accounting online at Royal Roads, fulfilling an old dream to be a university professor.She kept alert and engaged through reading the news, a multitude of books, and daily crosswords, cryptics, Wordle, and Scrabble.

To the day she entered the hospital, Elske kept her keen and thoughtful mind and articulate voice. She had slowed down the past two years, with vague but limiting symptoms that baffled the doctors, but she valiantly tried to maintain her daily walk, and had tea with her dear friend Maureen only hours before calling the ambulance. Despite two emergency surgeries, she died of complications from an undetected cancer. Her three children were by her side to say goodbye.

Mom/Ellie/Beppe: We hope you knew how much you are respected and loved, and what a very large hole you leave in many lives. In memory of Elske, consider a donation to Citizens for Public Justice (https://cpj.ca/), an organization she long supported and whose values aligned closely with her own.