Jean Adaline Arnoldus passed away peacefully on August 21, 2005 at G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital, following a five month battle with cancer.
Jean was born at home on May 10, 1927 on a northern Saskatchewan homestead, to Bill and Ruby Foster. She was the second of three children, with an older brother Ben and younger sister Helen.
At age 8, Jean moved with her sister to live with her aunt’s family in Prince Albert, Sask. after the untimely death of her mother, leaving behind her brother to live with their father. After seven years in Prince Albert, Jean and her sister moved to Wells, BC to join their father. After finishing Grade 10, Jean worked various jobs in Vernon, Quesnel and Williams lake, including Cottonwood House for the Boyd family.
While in Kersley, Jean met her husband Andre, whom she later married in Wells on December 10, 1949. During their early married life, they worked in logging camps with Jean performing camp cooking duties. In the early 1950s, Jean and Andre settled in Kersley where they raised their family.
Jean and Andre opened the Alamo Grill at the corner of Arnoldus Road and Hwy. 97 in April 1960, where it remained until October 1972 when it was relocated to its present location. Jean retired with Andre in March 1990 to a mobile home across the highway from the business they had dedicated most of their adult lives to.
Never one to be idle, Jean enjoyed traveling, entertaining friends, playing cards, attending to duties as a Fire Commissioner, going to the Legion Meat Draw on Saturday, having lunch with the “Wells Ladies” of 60 years ago, and volunteering for various organizations including the Quesnel and District Museum and Legion.
Jean was predeceased by husband, Andre in 1994, and her brother Ben Foster. She is survived by son Brad (Kathy) Arnoldus, daughter Colleen (Chris) Traue, foster daughter Nickie Jansen and sister Helen Lindquist of Prince, BC as well as extended family members. She was also very proud to be Granny to Warren (Amanda) Arnoldus, Carlee Arnoldus, Laurel Traue, Danielle Traue and a Great-Granny to Brooklyn Arnoldus.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Jean’s memory may be made to the Kersley Community Assoc., or charity of choice.