January 30, 1927 - January 19, 2022
In Loving Memory ~
Nico was born in Zutphen, The Netherlands to Anni de Boer and Anton Samsom. As an infant, the family moved to Java, Dutch East Indies, for five years before returning to Zeist, The Netherlands where he grew up in the family home.
Nico's family lived through the occupation of The Netherlands during the Second World War.
As a child, Nico raised chickens and grew a garden in the yard of the family home. This natural love of growing and raising animals began young, and led to his education in agriculture and a lifelong passion for farming.
The first step in his career was a one-year exchange to Canada, after which he immigrated to Canada in 1950. With strong language skills, he was offered a job with the Department of Immigration in Quebec. However, he soon moved to Edmonton, looking for a farm. There, he married Ied Stokhuyzen, whom he had met in The Netherlands just before leaving for Canada.
Having a personal connection in Terrace, Nico went there to work. He worked as a log scaler during the day and began building a farm on his newly acquired land in the evenings and weekends. Over the next 22 years, Nico and Ied had three children and Nico built a large poultry farm, Samsom Poultry Farm.
After selling the farm, the family moved to Victoria for three years. However, Nico realized he still wanted to farm, which brought him to the Comox Valley. He purchased land which became River Meadow Farms, which included a turf farm and a nursery. Although he began by raising sheep, turf was a new idea, which Nico pioneered in the area. His experiment became a successful business with his son.
During this time, Nico and Ied took numerous trips, including family visits to The Netherlands and vacations to Hawaii and Mexico. Sadly, Ied passed away in March 1995, which was very difficult for Nico and his family.
Through a personal advertisement in the newspaper, Nico met Hazel Serin, who had also been widowed. They had a common history in having both lived through the Second World War and immigrated to Canada. They also shared a love of travel, and went on numerous trips together, including family visits to The Netherlands and England, and cruises to Europe and the tropics.
Nico's waterfront cabin at Komas Ranch on Denman Island became a favourite escape as well as a social outlet for Nico and Hazel. For years they harvested seafood, cruised in Nico's sailboat and socialized with the Komas community. Unfortunately, Nico's growing health issues prevented this and further travel, which both Nico and Hazel regretted.
Nico is survived by his partner, Hazel Serin; children Robert (Dixie), David (Christina) and Katherine; grandchildren Kristi, Lindsay, Trevor, Justin, Nicolas and Darren; and five great-grandchildren.
Nico's family would like to thank the many health care professionals who cared for Nico over the past years, especially Dr. Reggler and the caregivers at Classic LifeCare.
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