MEET MY MOM AND DAD

PIETER VAN WYNGAARDEN


Dad was born April 6, 1923 in Dordrecht, Holland. According to Nellie, Pieter was a very good looking young man and he knew it. She said he had many girls that loved to be with him and he was a very good dancer. I always remember his as being a very hard worker and often working more than one job to make sure the bills were paid. One of the fun things about Dad was the fact that he was on a radio show which he did on Sundays for over 25 years playing his beloved Dutch music for all the Hollanders in Utah. Mom always had his program on at home and you could hear Dad and his Dutch music throughout the house. His sign off statement was, "Nel, put the potatoes on, I'll be home soon".

He loved his family and especially his children. Dad loved to be with his children and took us to dinner every Sunday to a buffet where he loved it when his grandson Ryan would get his ice cream and other desserts for him. Dad loved to go on vacations with is family and we spent several summers going to Balboa Beach near Newport Beach in California. We would all cram into the car and head out with no idea where we were going to stay but we never worried about it. I recall laying in the grass at the park in Fillmore, Utah before continuing on with our journey so dad could rest up a bit. I'm not sure we had air-conditioning in our car because we always traveled at night. It was our first time at Balboa Beach where our family enjoyed our first Slurpee from 7-11 when us girls meet a guy who wanted to impress us.

Dad was a great shopper and loved to buy clothes for mom. It was not unusual for him to come home after shopping spree to bring mom several dresses. He always loved for her to look nice.

Dad also loved cleaning the house and you could find him spending his Saturdays cleaning and rearranging the furniture.

Dad died suddenly of a heart attack on June 29, 1987.

NELLIE VAN EMMERIK

Mom was born on August 27, 1927 the only girl in her family so she was very loved. From the pictures of mom growing up you can see she was a very beautiful lady. She was also very determined and knew what she wanted out of life.

Mom had an awful turn of events when one day she couldn't feel the butterfly kisses on her cheek from her granddaughter Amber and noticed her cheeks were numb. Shortly after that she noticed what she described as a curtain that fell over her eyes causing her vision to go away. After examination and testing it was discovered that mom had a brain tumor. It wasn't cancerous but it was growing at a fast speed. After several operations to her brain and then radiation mom quickly went blind. There is one thing about mom and that was she never, ever felt sorry for herself because of her condition. She still tried to live her life as full as she could.

Mom died peacefully at my home on December 12, 2003






Holding her little brother Paul.