Hendrik de Haan (1920-2005)

Hendrik was born 3 Jan 1920, 98 yrs ago.  He was my mother’s only sibling, and according to my mother, her parents, especially her mother, favored their son and first-born.

Like his father, he became a tax inspector. He ended up in Wageningen, where his children were born. I have fond memories of visiting with them. The funny thing is that he lived about two blocks from where my in-laws lived, so it was easy to go see them, when we went to the Netherlands to visit family.

He told me a story about going bicycling with his (maternal) grandfather Ulpen de Haan (dutch link) to a piece of property he owned, where he grew rye, to work the land.

In his last years he was suffering from dementia, and mental trauma from WWII. It was sad to hear about. He died at 85. His wife survived him by 9 years. I remember them fondly.