The Dutch

[Vinegar Tits 606]

Seeing as I'm house sitting for my lovely Dutch friend at the moment, have we mentioned the death of Father Abraham yet? (Yes yes, post your Clive Dunn emojis if someone has...). Crikey, he must only have been 42/43 when The Smurf Song came out.

 

My condolences go out to The Smurfs, they must be devastated x

[YoungWillz 21,029]

Usaless.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Dutch senator Peter Ester has died at 69 after suffering from a recurring illness. He was part of the senate since 2011 for the ChristenUnie, which at the moment has five seats. To be honest, I don't recall ever actively hearing his name but as a sitting senator he got an article from the NOS straight away upon his death.

 

(The Dutch senate has 75 members who are chosen indirectly every four years. It has a say on the passing of legislation but think more UK House of Lords, less US Senate in that it doesn't get much attention in the media compared to the House of Representatives, Tweede Kamer)

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

A big death in the Netherlands this week:

Karel van Eerd, longtime owner of supermarket concern Jumbo, passed away on 14th december, aged 84. Van Eerd was one of the richest people in the country at an estimated € 2,9 billion.

 

Van Eerd bought the name Jumbo in 1984 after already running a family store for some decades, and made it one of the biggest supermarket concerns of the Netherlands - where there were three Jumbo's in 1984, the concern has grown to about 700 stores in the Netherlands and Belgium.

 

His son Frits had been general manager of Jumbo since 2002 but recently stepped back from the position after he was arrested for suspected money laundering. Van Eerd Sr. lived nearby our municipality, like Frits still does; while I don't know the family personally, they are some of the most well known people in the area.

 

Karel (1938-2022) and Frits van Eerd (1967)

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Politician Hans Grosheide has died at 92 on December 21. He was a member of the ARP and after its fusion with the KVP and CHU in 1980, the united party CDA. Grosheide was state secretary for education 1963-1971, member of the Tweede Kamer in 1971 and state secretary for justice 1971-1973.

 

In total he served in six cabinets; he was the last living member of the cabinets Marijnen (1963-1965), Cals (1965-1966), Zijlstra (1966-1967) and De Jong (1967-1971).

 

The earliest cabinet with living members is the first Biesheuvel cabinet (1971-1972).

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

After Grosheide's death, I took a look at the earliest Dutch cabinets with living members.

 

Earliest cabinets with living members

 

- kabinet Biesheuvel I (1971-1972)

Ministers (1/16)
Dries van Agt (1931), KVP; Justice
State secretaries (2/13)
Jan van Stuijvenberg (1928), DS'70; Interior
Tjerk Westerterp (1930-2023), KVP; Foreign Affairs
Jan Oostenbrink (1936), KVP; Economic Affairs

 

- kabinet Biesheuvel II (1972-1973)
Ministers (1/14)
Dries van Agt (see above); Justice
State secretaries (1/11)
Tjerk Westerterp (see above); Foreign Affairs
Jan Oostenbrink (see above); Economic Affairs

 

- kabinet Den Uyl (1973-1977)
Ministers (3/18)
Dries van Agt (see above); deputy Prime Minister & Justice
Bram Stemerdink (1936), PvdA; Defence
Tjerk Westerterp (see above); Transport and Water Management
Jan Pronk (1940), PvdA; Development aid
State secretaries (6/21)
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (1937), D66; Foreign Affairs
Martin van Rooijen (1942), KVP; Finance
Bram Stemerdink (see above); Defence
Michel van Hulten (1930), PPR, Transport and Water Management
Marcel van Dam (1938), PvdA; Housing
Wim Meijer (1939), PvdA; Culture

 

After the cabinet of Joop den Uyl (1919-1987), there followed a period from 1977-1994 in which there were three cabinets of Dries van Agt (b. 1931) and another three of Ruud Lubbers (1939-2018), both members of the catholic KVP/CDA. I'll probably cover them in another post but will wait until more of them start to drop.

 

Some notable surviving names in these earliest three cabinets:

- Dries van Agt, later became PM from 1977-1982.

- Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, also served as minister under Balkenende and is the father of Laurentien Brinkhorst, prince Constantijns wife.

- Martin van Rooijen, later became a member of the Tweede Kamer for the elderly party 50PLUS, and is fraction leader in the Eerste Kamer/senaat since 2019. Party leader for the next elections, planned for march 2025.

[The Old Crem 3,582]

Lieuwe Westra, Cyclist, dead at 40 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieuwe_Westra

[The Old Crem 3,582]

Marijke Merckens, actress has died aged 83. Obit (In Dutch). 

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Television producer and presenter Harry de Winter has died at 73 from mesothelioma. He had a tv program, Wintertijd (1999-2022) in which he interviewed famous people. Some of them known internationally like Salman Rushdie, Cliff Richard and Bill Wyman. Last year he retired after announcing he was terminally ill.

 

Coincidentally, the first real snow of the year fell today in the Netherlands before disappearing again throughout the day; which means the winter ended twice in a day.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Update about George Kooymans: 

He can eat, drink, read and watch tv. Has difficulty walking and picking things up. And he can't play guitar anymore. In his own words "he's not doing well, but it's still do-able".

 

He gave this interview promoting the upcoming album of supergroup De Vreemde Kostgangers, with members Henny Vrienten (1948-2022), Kooymans (1948) and Boudewijn de Groot (1944). Some of the musicians who contributed to the album were Thé Lau (1952-2015) and Jan Rot (1957-2022). Quite a high death toll, and sooner rather than later the oldest one will be the last on left.

[The Old Crem 3,582]

Adri Duivesteijn, Politician has died aged 72.  Obit (In Dutch). 

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Former footballer and coach Kees Rijvers (96) has been honoured by the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association).

 

During his senior career he played for the likes of NAC Breda, Saint-Etiénne (Fr), Feyenoord; and was a member of the Dutch national team between 1946 and 1960.

As a coach, he managed the Dutch national team from 1981-1984 during which the likes of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman and Wim Kieft made their debut.

 

Here he is pictured receiving the bondsridderschap of the KNVB. He will turn 97 in May.

 

[DoorSlammer 561]

When Rijvers didn't give an interview for the 70th anniversary of the Watersnoodwedstrijd, a charity football match between the national teams of Netherlands and France to raise money for the victims of the North Sea Flood of 1953, I was wondering if he was on the way out, but I guess I have my answer now.

[Whitehouse 872]

Surprised no one posted the death of Wim de Bie here. A national treasure over here.

 

 

[alt obits guy 3,371]

(Also posted in 'The World War II Veterans thread.)

 

Leo Hendrikx, one of the last Dutch Spitfire pilots to join the Royal Air Force to fight the Second World War, has died. He was 99.

 

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2023/04/dutch-wwii-spitfire-pilot-leo-hendrikx-dies-aged-99/

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

On 25/12/2022 at 12:27, ThereWillBeDeaths7 said:

After the cabinet of Joop den Uyl (1919-1987), there followed a period from 1977-1994 in which there were three cabinets of Dries van Agt (b. 1931) and another three of Ruud Lubbers (1939-2018), both members of the catholic KVP/CDA. I'll probably cover them in another post but will wait until more of them start to drop.

Well, that's going great. Almost five months later and no minister or state secretaries have passed away. They can thank me for the gift of life 

 

The lack of political deaths led me to look into the wives of Dutch Prime Ministers. There have been fifteen PM's after WW2; all former ones had a wife or partner (only the current PM, Mark Rutte, is not and never publicly has been in a relationship).

 

Partners of Dutch Prime Ministers:

- Barbara Schermerhorn-Rook (1897-1986) [Schermerhorn, 1945-1946]

- Jet Beel-van der Meulen (1895-1971) [Beel, 1946-1948; 1958-1959]

- To Drees-Hent (1888-1974) [Drees, 1948-1958]

- Maria de Quay-van der Lande (1901-1988) [De Quay, 1959-1963]

- Mini Marijnen-Schreurs (1921-2013) [Marijnen, 1963-1965]
- Truus Cals-van der Heijden (1915-1982) [Cals, 1965-1966]
- Hetty Zijlstra-Bloksma (1921-2013) [Zijlstra, 1966-1967]
- Anneke de Jong - Bartels (1915-2010) [De Jong, 1967-1971]
- Mies Biesheuvel-Meuring (1919-1989) [Biesheuvel, 1971-1973]
- Liesbeth den Uyl - van Vessem (1924-1990) [Den Uyl, 1973-1977]
- Eugenie van Agt - Krekelberg (1930-2024) [Van Agt, 1977-1982]
- Ria Lubbers - Hoogeweegen (1940-2024) [Lubbers, 1982-1994]
- Rita Kok - Roukema (1939) [Kok, 1994-2002]
- Bianca Hoogendijk (1960) [Balkenende, 2002-2010]

 

The last Dutch PM's wife to pass away was Ria Lubbers in 2024, aged 83. The oldest post-war PM's wife was Anneke de Jong Bartels, who passed away aged 94 in 2010, while the oldest living one is Rita Kok (will be 85 on 3 November this year), the widow of Wim Kok.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Singer Rob de Nijs (80) has been admitted to hospital in what has been described as a "worrying condition". According to his management he became unwell at home and had breathing difficulties yesterday evening.

 

De Nijs has suffered from Parkinson's disease for multiple years and last year ended his career because of it. While this might not be his final decline, it feels kind of like the beginning of the end for him.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Comedian Paul van Vliet (nl) has passed away aged 87 after a brief illness. He became popular nationally in the 1970's and 1980's and has since been a mainstay in the Dutch comedy scene. Additionally, his often linguisticly inventive comedy has given us some new phrases in Dutch like "Daar hebben wij ’t volgende op gevonden", We've found the following (as a solution to a problem or an issue).

 

This is turning out to be a bad year for Dutch 20th century comedy legends after the deaths of Wim de Bie and now Paul van Vliet.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

I swear I thought that said @Canadian Paul

[Canadian Paul 97]

On 26/04/2023 at 04:45, Sir Creep said:

I swear I thought that said @Canadian Paul

Don't worry, it's in my will to let Deathlist know when I drop dead.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 720]

Author and former D66-politician Jan Terlouw (91) has been visited at home by current D66-leader in parliament, Jan Paternotte. Terlouw looks quite well for his age I'd say, could see him living to 95+ at this point.

 

 

Mr. Terlouw has had a decades long political career (Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education, senator, party leader et al.), wrote more than a dozen young adult fiction books like Oorlogswinter (1972), and is an activist for sustainable development and animal welfare.

 

At times he still commentates on the current political situation in the Netherlands (like in most other countries at the moment, shit) and attends meetings with other former D66-leaders.

[YoungWillz 21,029]

Report that actor Willem Nijholt has died: https://www-denhaagcentraal-net.translate.goog/kunst/willem-nijholt-1934-2023-alleskunner-maar-in-den-haag-vooral-groot-acteur/?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

 

Look, I'm posting this because @DoorSlammer has him on a shadowlist, alright? 

[YoungWillz 21,029]

Theo van Tol, accordion player with Amsterdam Klezmer Band, reported dead by the band: https://amsterdamklezmerband.com/news-about-theo/

 

You can funk out Friday to this: 

 

 

[lilham 752]

Bram Moolenaar (1961 – 3 August 2023) was a Dutch software engineer and activist who was the creator, maintainer, and benevolent dictator for life of Vim.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/bram-moolenaar-creator-of-the-beloved-vim-text-editor-has-passed-away/

Apparently from an aggressive medical condition.

[I.R.Baboon 221]

On 14/03/2023 at 13:37, ThereWillBeDeaths7 said:

Update about George Kooymans: 

He can eat, drink, read and watch tv. Has difficulty walking and picking things up. And he can't play guitar anymore. In his own words "he's not doing well, but it's still do-able".

 

He gave this interview promoting the upcoming album of supergroup De Vreemde Kostgangers, with members Henny Vrienten (1948-2022), Kooymans (1948) and Boudewijn de Groot (1944). Some of the musicians who contributed to the album were Thé Lau (1952-2015) and Jan Rot (1957-2022). Quite a high death toll, and sooner rather than later the oldest one will be the last on left.

 

Henk Hofstede, singer of Nits (artpop with quite some european fame in the 80's thanks to MTV, as well as 'the band I've seen most often in my life') and friend of Vrienten and Rot, is suffering from a rare autoimmune disease. Wants to continue performing, but not sure if he can.