Paul Nederveen is a most worthy recipient of the 2026 MHADRTA
Volunteer of the Year award. Cheerful, courteous, compassionate and
kind—that’s Paul!  Always willing to lend a hand!

During his thirty-three-year teaching career entirely at Irvine School and
throughout retirement, Paul had been a modeled the definition of what it
means to be a true volunteer. Joining MHADRTA after retiring in 2004, he
held the position of Secretary for seven years from 2007-2014.  Paul
continues to serve as a member of the of the Phoning Committee which he has done for many years. He is to become the new ATA Local No. 2 rep
from MHADRTA this fall. Paul is a consummate volunteer for our general
meetings whether it is in the capacity of acting as a greeter or selling 50/50 tickets and is willing to step in at a moment’s notice when someone is away and unable to fulfill their obligation.

His musical talents play a huge part of his volunteering. Paul is a very
gifted vocalist who shares his talents with the musical group, The
Tartones—a group that performs throughout the year at various functions. Paul has been with the Tartones since its inception on Robbie Burns Day in January 1997. He has been the Music librarian for that group for many years. These talents were also shared with Medicine Hat Musical Theatre in a variety of roles. Paul has sung in the choir of every church he attended. When he lived in Irvine, he attended, sang in the choir, and was a member of the Board at Peace United Church.  After moving to Medicine Hat, he attended Fifth Avenue United. Paul served many years on the Worship Committee and volunteered with the gardening committee at Fifth Avenue. During COVID, he attended Gordon Memorial United Church where he currently worships and sings in the choir.

As part of his Dutch heritage, Paul was a founding member of the Dutch
Canadian Society and served many years as Secretary for that
organization until it disbanded in 2023.

In a civic capacity, Paul has served on the Medicine Hat Senior Citizens
Advisory Committee. He served on the MHSCA--Foundation Committee
from 2012-2017 with several terms as Secretary. Paul has been a member
of the Friends of Medicare since its inception in 2008. He has served as
Secretary for many years, and currently is the Treasurer.

With a concern for the environment, Paul can be seen spending his spare
time cleaning NWCH by picking up garbage on his daily walks. If you walk the trails in Crescent Heights, you may run into Paul during your walk.

Paul was born in Holland--the youngest of five children. His family
immigrated to Canada when he was five years old. The family lived on the SE Hill and Paul attended Earl Kitchener, Central Park and Connaught Schools for his elementary education, Alexandra for Jr. High and graduating from Hat High. His post secondary schooling started at MHC before he transferred to the U. of A. to complete a B.Ed. and later a BA. After a few years of teaching, he completed his Masters degree at Laval University.

Paul’s love and dedication to education and the children he taught is
exemplified in the respect his former students have for him. To this day,
many former students speak very highly of Paul. They remember that
during the first thirteen years of his teaching career when he resided in one of the seven teacherages in the hamlet of Irvine, it was not uncommon for students to knock on his door and ask if he would open the gym so they could play basketball or some other sport outside of school hours—usually after supper or on weekends. Paul would pack his marking and head to the school set up in the gym to do his marking and voluntarily supervise while the kids played.

Paul was awarded a certificate and gift from ARTA, a gift from MHADRTA
and enjoyed a free meal at our “To Hell With The Bell” General Meeting in September.
We could not have found a finer or more worthy gentleman to be the
recipient of our 2026 Volunteer of the Year award. Congratulations, Paul!

Proudly nominated by fellow MHADRTA member—Mel Deydey