JOHANNES FREDERIKUS ANTONIUS
Born Wednesday, May
3rd, 1916
Deceased Tuesday, April 7th, 1981
John was prematurely born (7
months) in hospital in Enschede. So his first few weeks/months were spent
in an incubator, but after gaining enough strength he was allowed to go home,
the family home standing on the corner of Grotestraat
and Ennekerdijk in Borne.
As a toddler, his brother
Bernhard often walked with him in the stroller. At one stage Bernhard had
to play horse and cart and pull the stroller along. Obviously it went much
too fast and at a certain stage, the stroller tipped over and John ended up
underneath it. Naturally baby John was completely beside himself and
mother of course, very angry.
Given that John was rather a
bit afraid of the dark, his brother always had to go to bed with him. This
resulted many a time in "fun and games". Once while they were playing he was accidentally kicked out of bed. When
peace and quiet finally returned, mother came upstairs and turned the lights
out.
A peaceful nights rest was not
always possible in the Nijhuis family home. On one occasion, in the middle
of the night, John was awakened by the family cat, in a not too pleasant
way. In those days people used to sleep in a bedstead. For some
strange reason the cat climbed onto the loft above the bedstead and decided it
would be a good idea to have a pee. Unfortunately, John slept precisely
under the beast and got drenched in urine!! At another stage John was
awoken by mice, which were playing in his straw-filled pillow.
When John was eleven his
mother passed away, where after his sister Johanna (Jo) took over and looked
after the family.
He left school at the
age of thirteen, and despite the fact that he was a very good scholar, he went
to work in the butcher shop with his father and brother. He did not stick
it out all that long because the brothers did not get along all that well. When
he was fourteen he got a job as an errand boy at grocery Hulshoff in
Borne. He worked there for many a year.
During those early years he
also followed dancing lessons at Rottinck in
Borne. He did not have to go into the military as his older brother had
"been there and done that". John was nothing like
his brother, had a completely different character. John liked to spend time at
home, he was very creative and also like to read. In his spare time he
spent many an hour drawing.
When John was working at
Hulshoff, he went to evening school and managed to acquire his diploma that
would allow him to start his own business and register with The Chamber of
Commerce. When there was a vacancy at EPA in Hengelo for a manager of the
grocery department, John applied and he managed to get the job. During his
service with EPA, the window dresser taught John the ropes and given his
creative talent, he took to it like a fish in water!
After a while John was
transferred from the Hengelo branch to the Almelo branch of the EPA. It
was here that he met his future wife, Wilhelmina Maria Dik.
After a few years of courtship they married in Almelo on Friday June 25th, 1943.
They resided at Wilhelmina parents ҆ place in Irisstraat
40 until the end of the war in May 1945. It was here in the Irisstraat
that their first child, Johanna Angela Maria (Joan) was born in June 1945. Not
long thereafter they had the opportunity to rent an upstairs apartment above a
shop (Ossenkoppele) in the Bornsestraat
near the Wethouder van Dronkelaarsplein.
Their second child, Angela Johanna Wilhelmina Maria was
born there in April 1947. Not long after that they were told that a
grocery shop was up for sale in the Bornsestraat near
the intersection with the Christoffelstraat. The
shop was owned by Fikkert (Wilhelmina ҆ s sister Lies, her in
laws). After long deliberation they decided to buy the shop. It was
here that their third child, Bernardus Wilhelmus Hendrikus (Bill) was born in
April 1949. They had the shop for approx. two years. When it appeared
that there were was little future in the business they decided to sell it
again.
Back then, just after the war,
the economic situation in the Netherlands was not too rosy. The government
promoted emigration, and many therefore decided to try and build a new future
abroad. Similarly, John and Wilhelmina decided to leave as well. They
left in November 1952 to sail to Australia aboard the ms. Johan
van Oldenbarneveldt. After a four weeks boat trip
they arrived in Melbourne on Friday, December 13th 1952 at Station Pier, Port
Melbourne. Melbourne being the capital of the state of Victoria, located on the
south coast of Australia.
From Port Melbourne, they
travelled further by train to Bonegilla, a small town on the border with the
state of New South Wales where an emigrant camp was located. This used to
be a military garrison where the buildings consisted of nissan
huts. Cool in the summer and freezing in the winter! Here it was that Angela
& Bill ended up in hospital with a severe case of whooping cough. At one
stage Angela was thirsty and wanted some water but because she could not speak
English, Joan managed to make the nurses understand.
While his wife stayed behind with the kids,
John, along with another immigrant, hitchhiked to Melbourne (about 350km) to
look for work. During the trip they wanted to spend the night in a church, but
the local parish priest would not allow it, so they had to sleep under the stars!
He managed to get a job in
Olinda, a village in the Dandenongs (a mountain range
about 40km to the east of Melbourne). Oddly enough this company was owned
by a countryman who operated a small business in leather goods. Seeing as
his salary was not too good, he had to find another job because he wanted the
family to be reunited a.s.a.p. Eventually he found a job in a factory,
doing the night shift. After three lonely months in Melbourne he was at
last able to send for his family. In April 1953 they found accommodation
in an emigrant hostel on Warrigul Rd. in Holmesglen. In response to an advertisement in a
newspaper, three months later, on a Sunday afternoon, they went looking for a
house in Moorabbin that was up for rent at 5 Small Road. This
accommodation concerned half of the house which was inhabited by Jewish
immigrants from Hungary. They had two rooms available; a living room and a
normal bedroom. The house suited their needs perfectly and so they decided
to rent it. Meanwhile John had managed to find another job in a factory (J.J.
Davies & Sons Pty. Ltd) where Daynide was
fabricated. Joan and Angela started school at St. Paul ҆ s in Bentleigh.
After a rehabilitation period,
the family moved to East Oakleigh in 1954, a small town about 14km southeast of
Melbourne. Here they were able to rent an old house (100 years old) from
an old bachelor, Percy Anderson, in Oakleigh Street.
They were able to hire this
through friends they had made, Mr. & Mrs. Fitzsimmons. Mr. Fitz was a
hairdresser in Oakleigh where Bill had to have a badly needed haircut. They
were true blue Aussies more than willing to help immigrants! They remained friends
of the Nijhuis family up into the sixties!
During this period, John went
to work at a large lemonade manufacturer, Cottees. He
had to supply the Milk Bars that sold Cottees
lemonade with all kinds of advertising posters etc. Sometimes he also had
to design posters himself so his experience from his job in Holland as a window
dresser came in very handy.
Bill started school at
St. Anthony ҆ s Primary School in Oakleigh at the corner of Castlebar
Road & Dandenong Road, nowadays in Chadstone. Bill and his sisters went by
bus which stopped at the state school (State Street) in East Oakleigh.
In 1956 the family went on an
outing with the Fitsz family to go and see Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Phillip who were in town for the opening of the
1956 Summer Olympics.
In the fifties John started manufacturing all sorts of small
goods from Daynide. From photo albums to table cloths
etc. He used to go from door to door trying to sell them, money was tight
seeing as he was on a workers compensation.
In 1958, not long after the
birth of his fourth child, Hendrikus Bernardus Johannes, the family moved
again, this time to Clayton, 55 Centre Road. They decided to move after
their landlord started causing problems about, according to him, unpaid rent.
This was not the first time the family had had problems with him. He also lived
on the property, a two or three roomed attachment at the front of the house. He
was an alcoholic and many a time came home in a foul mood and started causing
problems. At one stage he even put his fist through the front window which
naturally provoked John to give him a good hiding! So
after that final episode John thought it was high time for some peace and quiet
and so they moved!
In Clayton John decided to
definitely start his own company, manufacturing small goods from Daynide.
In 1955 his sister-in-law
immigrated to Australia on the m.s. Sibyak. She sailed via Egypt where she bought a few
souvenirs, one of which being a pouffe. John found this rather a nifty article
at the time and so also started manufacturing them.
Given the relationships he had
kept during his time at Davies Pty. Ltd., he was able to purchase Daynide at a discount price. He would cut the material
from templates he had made himself and his wife Wilhelmina, would sow it all
together. He was his own salesman and representative and spent many an hour
travelling the streets of Melbourne to interest potential buyers.
Business was excellent and it
was not long before he had saved enough money to purchase a block of land in Mooroolbark and build his own home.
The business flourished as
never before, now John had invented a name for his company: - "Hackelis Plastic Products". Naturally, the name
was hardly pronounceable for the real Australian, but that didn
҆ t worry John at all.
The following years were the
golden years for John and his family. His business expanded, his goods now
included different model pouffe ҆ s, stools, chairs etc. etc.
But as so often happens
companies run by a single person, the workload turns
out to be too heavy. It was not long before John suffered a nervous breakdown.
After a long recovery period
he continued with his business, this time assisted by a companion. Unfortunately John ҆ s solution for his company was
not the best choice and finally in 1968 he had to sell his company.
Meanwhile, John ҆s eldest daughter (Joan) married Frank Pitt and John became a grandfather.
In November 1968, his eldest
son, Bill and his daughter, Angela left for the Netherlands. They were
planning to go on a working holiday for approximately a year.
Life is full of surprises, and
so it was that Angela met her future husband, Benny Lubbers. As happened quite
a lot in those years, the (Dutch) family did not approve of her choice and this
caused quite a few problems. John was worried stiff, he hated seeing the family
in turmoil and so decided to return to his homeland.
He sold his house in Mooroolbark and in April 1969, sailed for The Netherlands
on board the m.s. Ellinis.
His mother in law, Maria Angela Dik, at the age of 79,
also came along.
They arrived in Rotterdam on
17th May 1969, and after staying at his sister ҆ s place for
the first few weeks he moved back to his home town, Almelo.
They were able to rent a house
in the Gagelstraat, number 39.
John managed to find a job as
a janitor at Soweco. Given his training and
experience in Australia this was a bitter pill for him. Yet it was
fantastic to be home again in the Netherlands, being able to see his brother,
sister and the rest of his family. He could not have been more content!
But, great was the dilemma when
his daughter Angela got married in 1970 and decided to return to Australia
again the following year. What to do? His wife, Wilhelmina, was now
very unhappy and could not really settle again in Holland. She had outgrown the
The Netherlands.
Meanwhile it was already 1972.
His son Bill married Janny Vrielink in September and went to live in the Schoolstraat. After much hesitation and deliberation
John finally gave into the wishes of his wife and decided to return to
Australia.
On Saturday December 23, 1972
he sailed from Rotterdam aboard, once again, m.s. Ellinis, and once again taking his mother-in-law with him!
She was now 82!
Once in Australia, the family
went to live in Mooroolbark again. John, once
again was able to find work, this time with his son in law, Benny Lubbers,
Angela ҆s husband. He remained working in the factory for a while
but he soon developed problems with his hernia again and was compelled to stop.
Seeing that the family was still living with their daughter Angela at the time,
it soon became apparent that they would have to move.
After renting a unit in Newman
Road Mooroolbark, John was able to purchase a
property at 10 Felix Grove Mooroolbark from his son
in laws҆ brother, Roy Pitt.
John was able to enjoy a few
more years of his retirement before his sudden death, a month before his
sixty-fifth birthday.
It was April 7, 1981. The
cause of death was never really found, but it is believed to have been either a
heart attack, or a brain haemorrhage.
John is buried at the public
cemetery in Templestowe, a quiet village about a 30 minute drive from Mooroolbark. His
grave is on a hill near the entrance, in the so called "lawn" area.
After his death John ҆s
wife Wilhelmina, continued to live in the house on Felix Grove. Meanwhile,
the house was purchased by Hendrikus Bernardus Johannes
(Harry). Wilhelmina awarded Harry his own privacy, so she decided to place
a so-called "Granny Flat" (a fully equipped self-contained
residential unit) in the backyard of 10 Felix Grove. They both had their
own home and yet Harry could help his mother where necessary in her old age.
During the years 1981-1990
Wilhelmina visited Holland three times, she stayed with her son Bernardus
(Bill) in the Schoolstraat Almelo. She usually
stayed for a period of about six weeks. These were happy times for her,
visiting her son.
In 1989, Harry married Glenda
Schreurs and moved to Lilydale. The house on Felix Grove was now empty and
purchased by Benardus Lubbers, her son in
law. Thus her Granny Flat could remain there, at first. Unfortunately,
Angela and Benny were divorced in 1991 and Angela went to live temporarily in
the house on Felix Grove until she could find a suitable home for her and her two
sons, Benjamin and Daniel. After a very difficult period for Angela, she
could finally find a home in Montrose.
Soon thereafter Benardus Lubbers wanted to sell the house in Felix Grove so
Wilhemina had to move again. The Granny Flat was moved to 4 Greenslopes
Drive where her eldest daughter Johanna (Joan) lived with her husband Frank and
son Tim.
It was there that she
continued to live in reasonable health until she was diagnosed with pancreas
cancer. It was May 1994. She underwent surgery but to no avail. She
died in February 1995 at the age of 79. According to her wishes she was cremated. Her
ashes are buried on Churchill Island (adjacent to Philip Island), under a tea
tree overlooking the sea that she so loved so well!
