Intro

"Keep true to the dreams of thy youth“
Johan Friedrich von Schiller

Who am I?

By asking yourself this question, you have started a journey. You will be scared and you will be excited.You will be lonely and you will find friendship. You will have fun and you will be sad. This yourney has enriched my life with many relatives in Europe and America, new experiences, new friends and places I never knew before.

So, join me and read on ……

What’s new

This site details the family tree of the Kloosterman family and emigrants to America. Start your Search or browse Surnames.

Featured photo’s

Adrie and Jan, 1920? Adriaan (Adrie) Kloosterman (my father, on the left) and his brother Jan Kloosterman

A Beauty<br>My mother Wilhelmina Kloosterman at her wedding in june 1942, 22 years old.

My father and mother, 1942. They married during WW II, there was no white wedding dress available in those days, so she married in blue! The blue wedding dress was made of lace and silk. The price of the wedding suit my father is wearing was around $ 25, Quite a price in those days. The price of my mothers wedding dress is not known, her mother paid the bill. Picture made by studio Hameter, Voorstraat 291 in Dordrecht.

My parents in 2005.<br>What a great couple they made, they have known each other practically their whole lives. They met when my father was 17 and my mother was 14 years old. They would take walks and occasionally go to the movies. They dated for 7 years, got engaged and married during WW II in 1942. They were married 63 years when my father passed away November 19, 2005. My mother survived him only 2 months and died February 3, 2006 and joined her beloved Adrie. The key to their staying together was their love for each other and because they remained friends all their lives. Besides love, friendship is I think one of the common elements of a successful long-term marriage. And remember, a happy marriage can take years off your face.

A piece of Art!<br>My lovely wife Hélène in the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam. The museum is noted for its collection of Dutch and Flemish works of art. The original collection was bequeathed to the city of Rotterdam in 1847 by F.J.O. Boymans, a city councilman. In 1958 the collection of Daniel George van Beuningen was acquired, and the Boymans Museum was renamed the Boymans van Beuningen Museum.

Leendert Kloosterman and his wive Tannetje Cornelisse, their daughters Janna (on the left), Johanna and their son Cornelis Jan, around 1910. Photografic workshop De Doelen, Cornelis Henning, Markt C 14, Middelburg, and Badhuisstraat 63, Vlissingen.

My great-grandfather Jan Kloosterman and his wife Jannetje Slabbekoorn at their 50e wedding anniversary 31-05-1938. My great-grandmother is still wearing the traditional Zuid-Beveland costume, with its large, stiffly starched hat and the large gold square "kissers" worn at the temples.

My daughters around 1980. Evelien on the left and Margo on the right

Johanna (Anna) Bosselaar, my grandmother a few years before she died.

EMF poster. My father Adriaan worked there more than 40 years and was a skilled metalworker and a highly trained electro technical mechanic, building big electrical motors. In the late fifties the EMF was taken over by the HEEMAF Electrical Works in Hengelo. In 1962 HEEMAF merged with Hazemeyer and SMIT Slikkerveer and became HOLEC Holland.

Dordrecht

Dordrecht is my hometown, the map is from “Blaeu’s Toonneel der Steden” Dutch city maps, (Willem and Joan Blaeu), 1652.

Our ancestors

This site is presented with the hopes of preserving the memories of our ancestors. Many we know about and many we will never know, because of records being destroyed by fire, flood other disasters. They have made possible the way we live today. We owe them gratitude and an interest in understanding their experiences.

Without them, where would I be?

Emigrants to America

Any additional information about the surname Kloosterman and emigrants to America are welcomed. Please Email me, Thank you !