Wendy Neufeld’s Legacy Story

Wendy Neufeld is the daughter of Dutch immigrants who came to Canada after World War 2 from The Netherlands. Her father established a career as a landscape gardener first in Ontario and then moved his family to British Columbia in the early seventies. Her parents settled in Langley and then moved to Hope when Wendy was in Grade 7. Wendy began her life in Abbotsford in 1979 when she was in Grade 11 at Mouat Senior Secondary High. Her parents sold the motel they had owned in Hope for 4 years and decided to move to Abbotsford because her father had clients all over the Fraser Valley and Abbotsford was central.

Wendy acknowledged that starting in a new high school was a challenge. “It was difficult at first because I was an outsider so I focused on school work. One of my courses was Career Explorations and I chose insurance because it was a career that involved working with people. That led to a part-time job at a local insurance agency while I was still in high school. I liked learning about different types of insurance and was eager to help people with their insurance needs” she said. Being goal oriented and a life-long learner helped Wendy move her career and her life forward.

In 1986, Wendy started working for The Co-operators and after 10 years bought into the business as a franchise agent, which she owned until 2012. After selling the business, she continued working at the same Co-operators office and specializing in farm insurance. “I was an advisor with The Co-operators for more than 30 years,” Wendy said. Wendy acknowledged that initially it was challenging for her being a woman selling farm insurance when prospective farm clients were used to dealing with male insurance agents. “Women look at things from a relationship perspective. My clients liked that and they got to know me and trust me especially when they realized that I also had the knowledge and expertise to provide them with good advice,” Wendy said.

Wendy’s goal oriented approach to her life wasn’t limited to work. She also applied her talents to her work in the community as a Rotarian. She started volunteering with the Rotary Club of Abbotsford Sumas in 2001 and worked her way through every officer position on the board up to President and then went on to be Assistant District Governor in 2013.

That was the same year that she took the helm at the Abbotsford Community Foundation (ACF) serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors until 2016. In 2017, she switched careers for the first time since high school and became the Executive Director of the ACF, a role she held until retiring in 2022.

Volunteering and giving back to the community she has called home for more than four decades is very important to her. In 2016, Wendy was awarded the Order of Abbotsford in recognition of her significant contributions to the community in her capacity as a leader and a volunteer.

Wendy is married and has a 22 year old daughter, as well as three step daughters and four grandchildren. She is proud to call Abbotsford home and is grateful to a community that has given her so much support in business and in her volunteer life.

As the undersigned, I promise to contribute to the future of the community of Abbotsford through a bequest to the Abbotsford Community Foundation.