John Waardenburg's Obituary
Jan Waardenburg was born on October 25, 1926 in Oud-Beijerland, Netherlands. He had 1 sister and 3 brothers. He served in the Dutch Marines for about 4 years. After meeting Sjaan (Jane) in church, they dated for a while and were married on May 11, 1949. On January, 6, 1958 they immigrated to United States with 3 children, Ria, Jake, and Marjorie.
When they arrived to the States coming through Ellis Island by boat, they moved to Santee, CA. In Santee, he worked on a dairy farm starting as an apprentice washing cows and eventually moved up to learning how to milk cows. He worked on several dairies in San Diego and then moved to Ramona where they lived and worked on a goat farm. They had their fourth child, Janella. After a few other moves, they ended up in Escondido where they had 3 more children, Louella, Henry, and Christina. In Escondido, he worked at Rube Nelsons Grocery Store as the produce manager for 21 years until its closing. His final job was at Hollandia Dairy where he worked until he retired. John and Jane enjoyed gardening together. They had so many flowers in their yard that people would stop by just to admire the beautiful flowers. He was a hard-working, dedicated husband, father, and Opa. The Lord blessed him with 7 children, 20 grand-children, and 20 great-grandchildren. In the end, the Lord was gracious and merciful, with his wife and 7 children at his bedside; he passed away peacefully at the age of 89.
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