Adrian Vandermeer

Today, we’re saddened to share the passing of Adrian Vandermeer, at the age of 93.

To many of our customers and staff, he was simply Mr. V and the founder of Vandermeer Nursery. To us, he was Dad, Opa, and the stubborn Dutchman at the centre of a very big family.

He was strong-willed, practical, and hardworking, all qualities he carried with pride and passed down to his family. He expected people to work hard, because that was simply how he had always lived. From working full-time in his dad’s greenhouse during the war starting at just 10 years old, to picking tobacco and working in lumber camps after arriving in Canada, and eventually building his first greenhouse by hand, Adrian was never afraid of hard work.

But that was only one side of him.

He was also goofy, curious, and always happiest when he was doing something. He loved being outside, whether that meant sailing his sailboat, the Wahoo, cross-country skiing, camping with his family, or spending time in the greenhouse with a dog at his side. He painted along with Bob Ross, loved to dance, played plenty of Euchre, and somehow never lost his enthusiasm for bringing home just one more plant.

His sense of responsibility extended well beyond his own family. Through St. Bernadette’s Church, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Knights of Columbus, Adrian spent many years helping others in practical, meaningful ways. As an immigrant himself, he understood what it meant to start over in a new country. He helped newly arrived families find apartments and jobs, provided furniture, and helped them navigate the early days of building a new life in Canada.

Even into his 90s, he still found ways to keep himself busy. Last year, at 92, he quietly brought enough plants and pots home to make 17 hanging baskets. No one had any idea what he was up to until he proudly brought them all back to the nursery on May long weekend, ready to go out for sale.

For his five children and six grandchildren, his legacy is much more personal than the business that bears his name. It is in the standards he set, the stories he left behind, and the family traditions he helped create, all of which will continue to remind us of him.
That legacy is also in the community around him. Over the years, longtime customers became familiar faces, generations of staff came to know him as Mr. V, and people continued to stop in asking how he was doing long after he had stepped away from the day-to-day business.

We are incredibly fortunate to have had him for 93 years, and even more fortunate that so much of what he built, taught, and cared about will continue through his family, his business, and the community around us.