For years, Hank and Betty Lou Vanderpost operated a dairy farm on Line 8 in Bradford West Gwillimbury, raising holsteins.
Exhibitor at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, supporter of the local 4-H Dairy Club, a certified foot trimmer for dairy cattle, Hank travelled extensively, taking his business across Canada and to South America – where he was known as Canada Hank.
Long retired and now living near Beeton, Hank celebrated his 80th birthday on Aug. 26 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Bradford. The church hall was filled with family members, friends and colleagues, including family friend, Paul Mills, mayor of Mulmur and warden of Dufferin County.
Mills reminisced about meeting Vanderpost at the Royal 55 years ago, and travelling with him on “cow business,” to Colombia, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
Rev. Diane Knowles of Bond Head United Church told the gathering, “Hank is not one to mince words,” noting that when she wore a black-and-white dress to church one day, Vanderpost told her, “You look like a skunk… You look like a holstein cow!”
Granddaughter Brenleigh Jebb, speaking on behalf of Vanderpost’s grandchildren, said the best advice he ever gave her was, “Never forget where you came from.” She told her grandfather, “We’ll never forget where we came from because that’s where you are.”
“You’re 80 years young, rather than 80 years old,” said son Garry Vanderpost. He spoke of Hank’s 40 years as a foot trimmer that earned him the title of Canada Hank overseas, his dedication to the Bradford Lions Club, and his award-winning career that included the 1995 Curtis Clark Achievement Award.
Vanderpost, who came to Canada with his family in 1952 from the Netherlands, worked for 15 years as herdsman for Tannery Hill Farms before setting up his own dairy operation, Vanhaven Holsteins - later, Vanholme Holsteins.
“I’ve been blessed with a lot of friends,” Vanderpost said, crediting his success to his wife of 55 years, Betty Lou. “She’s been the backbone of our family.”
The hall at St. John’s was standing room only, filled with well-wishers who came out to recognize Vanderpost, who is, as Knowles put it, a “farmer, friend, fashion critiquer extraordinaire.”
