1928 – 2025
Preface by Henry de Jong
Cornelis de Jong was a quiet, unassuming man, not easily drawn into arguments, but always ready with a story or two from his life experiences. Like my own father, my father-in-law had a checkered career that made him more worldly wise than most and cultivated his observant nature. Whether that be Indonesia where he served, the land and gardens that he cultivated, the caring jobs he held, the family that enveloped him, or the churches where he belonged, Cor stored up these experiences, made sense of them and shared them casually with friends and family. For him, story mattered more than the judgements that swirled around him.
After emigrating to Canada in 1954, Cor took to writing down some stories, at first in Dutch, but then sporadically in English, from 1969 to 2008. His handwritten sheets languished in boxes and binders till 2024, when Cor’s oldest daughter Wendy (my wife) gathered them up, transcribed them and compiled them into a Word document, complete with photos. By that time, Cor was 96 years old, and the stories had stopped coming, hindered by hearing loss and drowned out by the never-ending noise in his head.
But he did, yet, appreciate the printed copy of his very own memoirs, especially the pictures, several months before he passed away on January 28, 2025. We are thankful for the life that he lived and for the window into his world that he has bequeathed to us.
Henry de Jong, February, 2025
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