GAASENBEEK, Matthew III - It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Matthew Gaasenbeek III on October 29, 2020 at the Village of Humber Heights in Etobicoke.
Matthew is survived by Dai, his loving wife of 65 years, and their children Karen and her husband Dr. Christopher Cobourn, Joanna and her husband Scott Barker, and Matt Gaasenbeek and his wife Francine.
He was a devoted grandfather to Adam (Jaclyn) Cobourn, Sarah (Cameron) Chapman, Jeffrey (Kendra) Cobourn, Leah Barker, Douglas Barker, Victoria Gaasenbeek and Madeline Gaasenbeek. Loving great-grandfather of Anna Cobourn, Julia Cobourn and Katherine Chapman.
Matthew was predeceased by his sister, Fiet Byers and her husband Milford Byers, his sister Miek Gaasenbeek, and his brother Dick Gaasenbeek. He leaves behind Joan Gaasenbeek (wife of Dick) and his siblings Len (Alma) Gaasenbeek, Henk (Donna) Gaasenbeek, Martha (Douglas) Goodier, Peter (Irene) Gaasenbeek and Frank (Sandra) Gaasenbeek. He will be lovingly remembered by his large family and many friends.
Matthew was born February 27, 1930 in Bloemendaal, Holland. He and his family survived German occupation and the Hunger Winter of 1944-45 in the Netherlands. After the war, he immigrated to Canada in June 1948, proud to become a Canadian. He completed Grade XIII in 1949 at Cobourg Collegiate while living with his sister, Fiet and her family who had also immigrated to Canada after the war. Following graduation from high school he worked at a variety of jobs before attending Western University.
In 1956, despite English being his second language, he graduated second in his class from what is now known as the Ivey Business School.
Upon graduation Matthew joined Woods Gordon as a management consultant. He left Woods Gordon in 1959 to join the corporate finance department of Annett & Company. While there, he was recruited by Maurice Strong to move to Ottawa to join the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). During that time he travelled extensively while working with the World Bank, IFC, USAID and other international organizations.
Following his term with CIDA, Matthew and his family moved back to Toronto where he joined A.E. Ames & Company Limited in 1968, then Midland Doherty Limited in 1972. Matthew was the Senior Vice President and Director of Midland's Corporate Finance department until 1983. He was a trusted advisor for many clients and he took the responsibility of giving advice and allocating capital to companies very seriously.
Matthew served as a director on 19 public company boards, 12 not-for-profit organizations and 4 government boards. The latter included being Chairman of the Ontario Development Corporation, Ontario Savings and Loan Deposit Corporation, Ontario Council of University Affairs and Ontario Parks Transition Board.
After leaving Midland Doherty in 1983 Matthew became President of Camreco Inc until 1991. During the period from 1983 - 2010, Matthew was also Chairman of Northern Crown Capital (NCC), a family owned venture capital and corporate finance company. Matthew retired from NCC in 2010 at the age of 80.
Matthew devoted much of his life to his volunteer and philanthropic activities. He was an Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Grey & Simcoe Foresters Regiment, Prior of the Priory of St. James Knights Templar International OSMTH, President of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, Chairman of Quetico Foundation and one of the early Presidents of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (now Ontario Nature), to mention just a few.
When Matthew had an opening in his schedule he volunteered for Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) and did four major assignments with them, three to Central America and one to Estonia, where he helped reorganize financial markets and set up a stock exchange. For his volunteer and environmental work, he was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and an Audubon Sanctuary award.
When asked what his biggest achievement was in life, outside of his family, many are surprised to learn that it was the over 50,000 trees he helped to plant at the family farm in Flesherton, Ontario. He had a deep love for nature and devoted large amounts of time to caring for the land and the various birds and animals he had at the farm over the years. Matthew and his wife Dai were the ultimate hosts, always happy to welcome a wide circle of family and friends for meals and parties at the farm.
Matthew loved reading and never stopped learning. He had a passion for history and a curiosity about people and the world that was contagious. He enjoyed travelling and many of his trips were based around visiting museums, art galleries and places of historical interest. In fact, his last major trip at 88 years of age was to Israel to see first hand their many important places of military and religious history.
Between his varied life experiences and wealth of knowledge, Matthew was always ready for a good debate and took advantage of opportunities to pass on life lessons and advice. He took an interest in everyone he met and endeavored to have a positive impact on their lives.
Matthew's wise advice, warm heart and kind smile will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations would be gratefully received by Ontario Nature or Trillium Health Partners.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions a live webcast funeral will take place on Friday, November 6th at 4 p.m. For webcast details and online condolences, please visit newediukfuneralhome.com.
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