Five Brothers and a War

Postscript: Pieter “Piet” van Pelt (1921-1979)

Piet began working for the kitchen cabinet-making department of Bruynzeel shortly after the war. The double wedding took place near the end of 1946 and Leendert died a year later. Piet and Henny welcomed the first grandchild of Leendert and Marie in 1948. Maria Geertruida van Pelt, named after her grandmother, was nicknamed “Marijke”. Marijke should not be confused with the Maria Geertruida van Pelt born a few years later to Jan and Immie. That one was nicknamed “Marja”. Six years later, Johanna Frederike “Hannie” was born.

This Johanna Fredericke van Pelt has a completely different name than the other Johanna Fredericka van Pelt born earlier to Leen and Rita. That one’s middle name ends with an “a” and not the “e” of Hannie’s. After some time at Bruynzeel, Piet took a job as a lighting consultant at the Dutch mega company, Philips. He travelled all over Holland and loved his job. In 1968, Marijke married Juan Ford, and moved to the United States. Marijke and Juan gave Marie her first great-grandchild, Maria-Isabel Christina Ford, just before Marie died on December 25. In 1973, Hannie married the brother of her sister’s husband, Glen Ford. She also followed her sister in moving to America. Marijke and Juan, lived within close proximity of Hannie and Glen in the greater Washington D.C. area. As Piet turned 55 years old, in 1976, he was forced to give up his job and was given a Philips desk job in Amsterdam. He hated all aspects of that position. He hated the job, and he really hated the twice daily commute to and from Amsterdam. He also really missed the constant meeting of people that had become an integral part of his professional life for three decades. But he was too young to retire and too old to find other work, so he dealt with it.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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