My wife Vonnie and I originally are from the Netherlands. We spent the tender years of our youth going through WW II and Nazi occupation. During those awful years, fear, hunger and cold were for many an ever present, daily battle. Because we did not live in one of the larger city, our parents did not experience the hardship others went through who did live in one of the major cities of the Netherlands. Nevertheless, daily we lived in fear. Otherwise, our families came through those war years fairly unscathed. Those years have left an indelible impression on us.

       Vonnie and I first saw each other three years after the war. We met at my parents home. Vonnie was friends with one of my cousins. They were visiting my parents' home while I had come home as well on a brief furlough. At the time I was serving in the Naval Air Arm as a Radio and Radar Technician. Our relationship became serious on the 27th of March 1949. I was young and had great expectations of life. Vonnie and I had already made plans for a possible Fall wedding in 1950. The Navy had different plans however. I was scheduled to leave on a six months tour of duty to the Dutch West Indies. I was to leave on the 6th of January 1950. Financially it was to our advantage if we would advance our wedding date. This resulted in us getting married on the 8th of December 1949. Our marriage was blessed with three lovely daughters. Evelyn is our oldest, next our daughter Marjory was born and Mirjam is our youngest daughter. After seven years of marriage we decided to say farewell to Navy life and start anew 'somewhere else.' The pressure of having to be away from home often, even having to make extremely long trips abroad was too much for our young family to cope with. That 'somewhere else' turned out to be Canada. Our young family left the Netherlands flying on a KLM Super Constellation on September 20, 1957. Our final destination was Montreal.

       Before we left the Netherlands I had earlier applied for the position of electronic technician with Canadian Aviation Electronics in Montreal, Quebec. They had offered me the job and for the next four years I worked for CAE. After four years I ventured out into a new career. This time with the Boeing Aircraft Co. located in Arnprior, Ontario. I started working for them on the 1st of November 1961. My stay at Boeing was for next 15 years and 3 months.

       On the 1st of February 1977 my wife and I moved from Arnprior to Toronto where Vonnie and I still live in one of the suburbs called North York. Since 1992 we are retired, but our daily lives do not reflect that. We are busier than ever. I spend most of my free time behind the computer. Among other things I spend my time exposing anti-Semitism. As a matter of fact I have written an extensive Website exposing the horrors of the Holocaust, "The Holocaust: Lest we forget" with emphasis on the fate of the Dutch Jews. I sincerely hope that you will visit my Website often. Should you have questions or reactions to what I have presented, please contact me here.

       Lo, children are a heritage of the L-rd: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5

       Our daughters Evelyn, Marjory and Mirjam have given us ten marvelous grandchildren, Signe, Joshua, Aaron, Jacob, Jordan, Seth, Marcus, Sofie, Oscar, and Maxwell. The first seven are independent grown-ups who each in their own way have strongly contributed to the economy. The seven oldest are married. Aaron married Vicki Arra on the 15th of August 1998. Signe followed the 28th of March 1999 when she married Oded Orgil. Jordan married Jeffrey Bustos on 18 May 2001 and on 2 October 2004 Jacob followed when he married Katharine Heidt Findley. His brother Marcus tied the knot with Elizabeth Rose Danielski on the 26th of November 2005. Joshua married Krista Joost on 29 July 2006, while his younger brother Seth followed on 3 September 2006 when he and Amélie Grenier were married. The three youngest grandchildren Sofie, Oscar and Maxwell still are too young to even think about marriage as can be seen from the pictures above. As parents, grandparents and now also as great-grandparents we are more than blessed.

       On the 10th of May 2000 Kobi Moshe Orgil was born. He is our first great-grandchild. His brother Benjamin Yonatan Orgil arrived two years later, on the 7th of May 2002. Ryan Bustos was born on the 11th of March 2003. Next is was Tali Batia Chaya Orgil her turn. She was born on May 28, 2004. And on 23 February 2005 Ryan's brother Cole Jeffrey Bustos was born. On February the 3rd, 2006, we were informed of the birth of Eva Gabrielle Orgil. In the same year, on 26 October 2006 we received word that Edgar Gabrielse for the first time saw daylight. Oliver Gus Hoeksema was next. He was born on 18 November 2007 and Isabella Rose Hoeksema was born on 15 April 2008. On 14 July 2009 Claire Aaltien Gabrielse presented herself while Joel Aaron Gabrielse was born on 4 August 2009. Seth and Amélie announced the birth of their daughter Estelle Evelyn Gabrielse on the 26th of September 2010. Jake and Kat Hoeksema announced the birth of Grace Eliza on 12 April 2011. Marcus and Liz Hoeksema were blessed on the 12 September 2011 with a new baby girl whose name is Lucy Mae. Vonnie and I express our thanks to G-d for His mercy, patience and love with which He is blessing our growing family.