Obituary for Madison Helena Van t Zelfde
Madison Helena van 't Zelfde (formerly Vance) born on 3 December 2001, and passed away on 10 December 2022 due to a fatal accident while visiting in Amsterdam.
She was the dearly loved daughter and best friend of Kimberly Vance (Kotevich) and daughter of the late Alan Vance (van 't Zelfde) whom she missed immensely since his death in 2013. Madison Helena was also the adored granddaughter of Gloria Kotevich (McLaughlin) and the late Peter Kotevich (2012) Grandparents Sija and Cornelius van ‘t Zelfde had passed away before she was born.
The most common adjective used to describe Madison by anyone who knew her was bright, she was beyond bright, she was a walking encyclopedia. She was also creative and fearless and from an early age was destined to follow her own path in life.
She attended Walkerville high school (arts) until the age of 15 when she quit, so as not to allow the Provincial Ministry to be the 'middleman between herself and her education’ (I supported this wholeheartedly.) At the age of 17 she was attending KU Leuven university in Belgium studying Toegepaste Taalkunde (Applied Linguistics) specializing in Dutch, Russian, German and from there her passion for languages blossomed. She was constantly studying, reading and helping others. It was just something she absolutely loved.
Madison could speak 12 languages, professional level fluency in Dutch, English, French, German and Russian and conversational fluency in Arabic (Gulf), Georgian, Indonesian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Spanish and Turkish. She taught languages online and her students adored her.
She was a self-proclaimed language learner, linguist, traveler, teacher, figure skater, translator and book hoarder. Madison's most prized possessions were her figure skates her extensive language book collection and her new puppy Milou. She carried a bag of paprika with her wherever she travelled so she could cook her famous Chicken Paprikash.
Madison also had something which in Dutch is called ‘reislust’ (wanderlust) and she had compiled a list of all the countries she wanted to visit; Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia and United Arab Emirates had all been crossed off her list and spring of 2023 was to be a trip to Nepal.
Madison was the type of daughter that no matter where she was or what she was doing, she messaged or called her mum (me) everyday, not one day in 21 years had ever gone by without us communicating.
She had so many friends from all over the world and I don't think she ever realized how profoundly she had touched so many of their lives.
All of her relatives are shocked and deeply saddened.
She will be greatly missed, always loved, thought of often and never forgotten.
The saying 'if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever' suits Madison perfectly.
Now in Dutch.
Ik zou pagina's over je kunnen schrijven, mijn meisje, je was het licht in mijn leven en mijn gelukkigste momenten waren met jou. Mijn liefde voor jou zal me kracht geven. Totdat we elkaar weerzien, mijn liefste dochter, moge je rusten in vrede.
A private viewing has happened for us in Amsterdam and she was cremated there.
A celebration of her life will be held here for her family and close friends at a later date. Online Condolences available at FamiliesFirst.ca
She was the dearly loved daughter and best friend of Kimberly Vance (Kotevich) and daughter of the late Alan Vance (van 't Zelfde) whom she missed immensely since his death in 2013. Madison Helena was also the adored granddaughter of Gloria Kotevich (McLaughlin) and the late Peter Kotevich (2012) Grandparents Sija and Cornelius van ‘t Zelfde had passed away before she was born.
The most common adjective used to describe Madison by anyone who knew her was bright, she was beyond bright, she was a walking encyclopedia. She was also creative and fearless and from an early age was destined to follow her own path in life.
She attended Walkerville high school (arts) until the age of 15 when she quit, so as not to allow the Provincial Ministry to be the 'middleman between herself and her education’ (I supported this wholeheartedly.) At the age of 17 she was attending KU Leuven university in Belgium studying Toegepaste Taalkunde (Applied Linguistics) specializing in Dutch, Russian, German and from there her passion for languages blossomed. She was constantly studying, reading and helping others. It was just something she absolutely loved.
Madison could speak 12 languages, professional level fluency in Dutch, English, French, German and Russian and conversational fluency in Arabic (Gulf), Georgian, Indonesian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Spanish and Turkish. She taught languages online and her students adored her.
She was a self-proclaimed language learner, linguist, traveler, teacher, figure skater, translator and book hoarder. Madison's most prized possessions were her figure skates her extensive language book collection and her new puppy Milou. She carried a bag of paprika with her wherever she travelled so she could cook her famous Chicken Paprikash.
Madison also had something which in Dutch is called ‘reislust’ (wanderlust) and she had compiled a list of all the countries she wanted to visit; Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia and United Arab Emirates had all been crossed off her list and spring of 2023 was to be a trip to Nepal.
Madison was the type of daughter that no matter where she was or what she was doing, she messaged or called her mum (me) everyday, not one day in 21 years had ever gone by without us communicating.
She had so many friends from all over the world and I don't think she ever realized how profoundly she had touched so many of their lives.
All of her relatives are shocked and deeply saddened.
She will be greatly missed, always loved, thought of often and never forgotten.
The saying 'if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever' suits Madison perfectly.
Now in Dutch.
Ik zou pagina's over je kunnen schrijven, mijn meisje, je was het licht in mijn leven en mijn gelukkigste momenten waren met jou. Mijn liefde voor jou zal me kracht geven. Totdat we elkaar weerzien, mijn liefste dochter, moge je rusten in vrede.
A private viewing has happened for us in Amsterdam and she was cremated there.
A celebration of her life will be held here for her family and close friends at a later date. Online Condolences available at FamiliesFirst.ca