LIMBURGS DAGBLAD MAY 5th, 1999
Sister-in-n-law of Jopie van Duinhoven seeks Maria Sutherland
Storm-Trooper Josef 'Jopie' van Duinhovens' past is starting to slowly unfold. After that last week his old comrade in arms and 'medekoempel' (brother-in-arms, peer) Andre Caris announced himself with beautiful and emotional memories of Josef van Duinhoven who suddenly passed away in Canada in 1976, a sister-in-law of van Duinhoven, Mrs. Wilhelmina van Duinhoven (80), also called and told us that she had been married to the brother of Jopie, Emiel. "Alas, my husband Emiel passed away fifteen years ago, but I can still remember Jopie." Mrs. van Duinhoven housed Jopie for some time. "When Jopie and my husband's mother suddenly passed away in 1943, he lived with us for a short time."
After his dad remarried, Jopie suddenly left for Canada. "The new woman was also a reason why Jopie immigrated to Canada. Because his Uncle Emiel and Aunt Harriet already lived there. He also married Marion there and Maria is born there," the elderly sister-in-law of Jopie van Duinhoven knows to tell.
"I still had contact with Marion for some time, but when Jopie passed away, the contact grew faint and silent." But now that she read in the 'Spoorloos' that her niece Maria Sutherland is looking for her Limburgse family, she would like to renew the ties of long ago. "Yes, I would very much like to once again be in contact with Maria and her mother Marion."
Mayor Majoor Also Searches for van Duinhoven
The photograph, that pictures Josef van Duinhoven and five other friends and acquaintances was not taken in Nijmegen but in Meerssen. That is the opinion of Mayor Karel Majoor of Meerssen. "I strongly suspect that it is not Nijmegen but Meerssen where the photograph most probably was taken after 1938.
The headstone behind Josef van Duinhoven's back and the skirting around the church building together clearly point o the Basilica of Meerssen," according to mayor Majoor. The mayor of Meerssen stands firmly on his opinion despite the fact that on the back the name of a Nijmegen photographer appears.
"No, this is clearly the Basilica of Meerssen, after the renovation in 1938, when the addition was made. You can see that clearly on the photograph."
April 28 articles