Arno Schortinghuis

On Friday, November 30, 2018, the Canadian cycling advocacy community lost a giant in Arno Schortinghuis.

It would be impossible the BCCC team to adequately express what Arno meant to the organization, and to cycling in British Columbia, in the nearly two decades he was involved.

To get a sense of his impact on our organization and community, please read the article by Naoibh O’Connor of the Vancouver Courier, entitled “Longtime Vancouver cycling advocate died after an accident doing what he loved”. Here’s an excerpt:

Longtime cycling advocate Arno Schortinghuis, who “travelled the world on two wheels,” died Nov. 30, a day after he had an accident while riding home from a meeting about cycling.

The 72-year-old president of the BC Cycling Coalition and Richard Campbell, the organization’s executive director, met with TransLink in New Westminster on Nov. 29 about the B.C. bike summit being held in June.

Afterwards, Schortinghuis took the SkyTrain part way home and then hopped on his bike to travel along Vancouver’s Ridgeway Greenway. He was found on 37th Avenue just east of Ross Street. He suffered a spinal cord injury, which possibly led to cardiac arrest. But there were no witnesses, and it’s unclear exactly what happened. Passing cyclists provided CPR and called 911. He was taken to the hospital where he died the next day.

Campbell said when it came to cycling advocacy, Schortinghuis would do whatever needed to be done — from administration work to arranging meetings with politicians.

“He did so much, worked very hard and was a really kind and gentle person — really good to work with,” Campbell said.

Aside from the BC Cycling Coalition, Schortinghuis was involved with many cycling organizations throughout the years. Previously, he was a board member and past president of HUB Cycling (formerly Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition), a co-chair of the HUB Cycling Regional Advisory Committee and a board member of Bike to Work BC Society/GoByBike Society. He was also a founding member of Canada Bikes.

Schortinghuis met his wife Jean Matthewson in 1977. They have two adult children.

“I’ll miss my partner in adventures most,” she told the Courier.

The couple went on a three-month-long cycling tour in Europe last summer, including biking through Hungary, Denmark and the Netherlands. Schortinghuis was born in the Netherlands. He moved to Ontario with his family in 1949 when he was three. He moved to B.C. in the mid-1970s.

Matthewson said her husband, who was a computer programmer for Finning before he retired, always talked about the mental, physical and environmental benefits of cycling, saying it’s not wasted time if you go from A to B on a bike instead of sitting in a car.

But she said cycling advocacy wasn’t the only volunteer work he was involved with during his lifetime. He also volunteered for the Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C., for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and on school parent advisory committees….

Schortinghuis’ contributions to the region’s cycling community, meanwhile, were highlighted through online tributes.