The Ancestors of My Grandchildren

     Ulpen de Haan was born on 22 Oct 1891 in Nieuwe Pekela.^1,2 He married Afina de Haan, daughter of Ulpen de Haan and Geertje Starke, on 4 Jul 1918 at Nieuwe Pekela^1,3 (banns 22 Jun 1918, Wittem.)⁴ He witnessed the engagement of Ds. Barend Gast and Geertje de Haan in Jun 1943.⁵ He died on 25 Oct 1964 in Zwolle.^1,6 He was cremated on 29 Oct 1964 in Dieren.⁶ There was a death announcement, in which his wife and children were mentioned.⁷

Other information:
Ulpen de Haan was a civil servant with the tax department.¹
     Ulpen was in the army in WWI (1914-1918). On his way to the exam he saw a billboard in Amersfoort (where he had to change trains) "Come work for the tax department." You could take the course while in the Army. He was stationed near Vaals in Limburg, and there he passed the exam for the tax course. So after that he worked for the tax department, his first job was also in Limburg. He slowly advanced, and when he retired he was in Rotterdam, the most important border office in the Netherlands.
     In Limburg Oma helped by frisking the women, who tried to smuggle contraband across the border. There also were many German refugees, but the Netherlands were not welcoming; they already had many Belgian refugees.⁸
     Because of his job with the tax department, Ulpen and Afina moved a lot. Their first apartment was above the Restaurant A. Beckers-Hanssen in Nijswiller.^9,5
     In 1920 they moved to Schiedam, where daughter Geertje was born. In Feb 1922 they moved to Sneek, en in 1924 to Drachten. On 29 Oct 1934 they went to Purmerend (Julianastraat 25), and on 15 Oct 1943 to Tuinkade 11 in Zaandijk.Then on 28 May 1947 to Groningen (Floresplein 18B) and on 24 Oct 1950 to the Dresselhuijsstraat 3c in Rotterdam. Finally they moved to the assisted living complex "Oldenhaghen" (Hessel Mulertstraat2) in Ommen.^5,9,10,11
     In Drachten they were living in the Oosterstraat, a new neighborhood, designed by Cees de Boer and Theo van Doesburg.^12,13,14
     In Limburg he was rather close to "Neutral Moresnet," a small piece of land, now in Belgie (see Wikipedia. There was a movement in Moresnet to start an Espranto State. That didn't work, but Opa was also much in favor of Esperanto. Whether Moresnet influenced him, we don't know.^8,15 His telephone number in 1950 was 25008 at address Floresplein 18b.¹⁶
Ulpen de Haan received a letter (from Nieuwe Pekela, dated 20 Oct 1918) from his parents-in-law Ulpen de Haan and Geertje Starke. They congratulate him and his wife Afina de Haan with his birthday. Ulpen tells about his work, Geertje about the Spanish Flu, which has claimed a number of friends. Hendrik, a nephew, is gravely ill in the hospital in Groningen. She hopes the war will end soon. Sister Grietje also adds her congratulations.⁵

Photos:

C 1962. Ulpen and Afina.

C 1962. Ulpen and Afina had a micro car called a Goggomobil (link to blog post) .5