One of B.C.’s most devoted Catholic pro-life crusaders passed away peacefully on July 19, renowned among veteran members of the movement for his commitment to prayerful action in defence of the culture of life.
Berend (Bill) Van Eldik was 88 when he died of natural causes in a care home in Maple Ridge, leaving behind a life-affirming legacy to which I can personally attest.
That’s because Bill recruited me in the early 1990s to be a charter member of the St. Joseph’s Parish (Port Moody) “pro-life committee,” and it was at one of our monthly meetings that discussion turned to developing positive, life-affirming action, instead of the sort of protests and petitions that were the usual pro-life fare at the time.
Inspired by the topic, I said I thought it would be a great idea if we visited seniors in care homes during the upcoming Easter weekend, spending time with them and giving them flowers and cards to brighten their day.
And thus was born the Easter Flowers Project, which ultimately blossomed into Blooms into Rooms. Working with Life Compass, we were set to visit 1,500 seniors in 2020 when the COVID pandemic forced us to press pause on the project, but we enjoyed a minor restart this past Easter when we delivered more than 600 flowers to seniors from Maple Ridge to Coquitlam.
As I worked with Bill on the parish committee, I learned that he had been one of the valiant pro-lifers who had engaged in peaceful but powerful civil disobedience to protest the 1988 Supreme Court of Canada decision to throw out the country’s law regulating abortion.
In fact, he was part of a heroic group, including the likes of Father Vincent Hawkswell, Ted Gerk, Sissy von Dehn, Betty Green, Don Spratt, and John Hof, who were arrested in 1989 because of the protests. Bill and others ended up spending time in jail.
Later, he formed a key part of a small prayer group that assembled every week just outside the provincial-government-imposed bubble zone at the freestanding abortion centres in east Vancouver.
Bill also employed something he called “creative littering,” which he used to describe his practice of leaving pro-life literature in phone booths, on store counters, or anywhere someone in need of information might find it.
Sadly, it was while walking across a street to make one of his “litter drops” 13 years ago that he was struck by a car and suffered multiple injuries. Despite innumerable hospital stays and rehabilitation treatments, he never fully recovered.
He spent the last several years of his life in the Baillie House seniors’ care home in Maple Ridge; his wife, Betsy (whom he married in 1955), joined him there a few years ago.
I found it especially gratifying that one of our Blooms teams was able to deliver a flowering plant and card to Bill in 2018. I was also very moved to learn that one of his old pro-life colleagues, Father Hawkswell, had administered the last rites to Bill just minutes before his death.
Years ago I asked Bill why he had become such a passionate pro-life advocate. All he said was, “For the little babies.”
I shared this with Bill’s daughter, Jeanette, following his death, and she revealed to me that a personal tragedy was likely behind that statement. She explained that her older sister, Sharon, was involved in a car accident in 1978. The crash killed both Sharon, who had been married only a year at the time, and the unborn child she had been carrying for seven months.
For some, the sorrow and grief that would surely follow such an event could cause one’s life to unravel. But instead of being swallowed by despair, Bill committed himself to the pro-life movement, transforming his sorrow into hope, and his grief into love for the unborn, the handicapped, the sick and the elderly.
I can’t think of any better way to end this reflection than by quoting words written by our common friend, John Hof, when he learned of Bill’s death: “The world will miss you, Bill, and I am certain you have now heard our Saviour welcoming you home with the words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ Rest in peace, my friend.”
To that, I can only add, “Amen.”
