We are very sorry to hear of Ralph's passing. We knew him as Roel, here in the Netherlands. I met Roel for the first time during a week trip we made to Venice. Its must have been almost 30 years ago. Het was Sjaak Elbers' uncle and for the Holland College in Naaldwijk and Maasland we made this trip to prepare an exchange program for students the year after.

Since then Roel and us (Henk and Vera van der Pol) remained friends, We annually sent Christmas wishes (our last one sent just a couple of weeks ago, for we weren't aware of his passing) and Roel stayed withe us several times in Maasland and once in the house we are in now in Noordwijk aan Zee.

He was a pleasant companion and always very relaxed. I remember him wondering why all cars in the Netherlands were parkes so sloppy and that public transport was arranged so properly. In Italy, during our stay in Venice, with our group of 5, we spoke 5 different languages. Roel was responsible for the French translations. All so funny. We also went to Schiedam, the town he was born and also found the house was was born in.

Over the last years our contact seemed to fade away. Of course we knew that Roel was getting older, but his passing was certainly not expected. We kept sending Christmas cards and always received wishes from Roel too. But last year we did not and and we should have informed about his health then. Very sorry that we didn't. Also very sad to find out just now about his passing after searching in google.

We wish the family all the strength. May Roel's tree in the park grow very old!

Best Wiskes for a healthy and happy New Year.

Lots of love,

Henk and Vera van der Pol

Houtkrocht 8

2201PJ Noordwijk

the Netherlands

I am very sorry to hear of Ralph’s passing, I met him at Southcentre Bay and always enjoyed running into him. All the ladies at HBC knew him and he would come and see us at all the events. As my career took me to Toronto, Ralph always emailed me to keep me up to date about the Alberta economy. We had a lot of great conservations my friend RIP.

I met Ralph several years ago in Second Cup. We became friends over the years and stayed in touch. I was always impressed how well read and up to date he was on current affairs.. We always had very stimulating conversations over the years. I will miss him My sympathies to the family.

To the family of Ralph Barnouw,

We are sorry to hear of Ralph’s passing.We were privileged to meet Ralph a few times when we dropped by the coffee shop with our daughter.He was a very interesting person who loved conversation. He had lots of life experiences to share and was always interested in what the other person had to share.Our sincere condolences to you all!

One thing that stands out to us about Uncle Ralph is he always expressed a genuine interest in you when having any conversation with him and he always made an intentional point of learning "what's new with you?"

We always looked forward to having chats with him - hearing his stories and experiences and learning his nuggets of wisdom!

His recent book is a wonderful memoir! We will miss him.

Love and prayers from Brian and Kathleen

I am saddened to hear of Ralph’s passing and had the pleasure of meeting him at the coffee shop and subsequently helping him to compile the story of his life onto paper which he then had copies made to issue to his family and other acquaintances in his life. He will be missed and I am grateful to have spent time with him.

Kim Reid