Egbertje J. Vander Kooi - my great grandmother

I have the honor of having two of my great grandmothers live to be 100 years old. That is rather special since the average life of a woman for that generation was about 65 years. Both of these woman lived as widows for about 35 years following the death of their husbands.


On my fathers side of the family, it was Klaasje (Clara) Troost Bartels. She immigrated to the US from the Netherlands as a youth and married John Bartels. I knew her as a child and youth. In fact, I was 21 when she passed away in 1974. I wrote about her life in previous blogs.


The other great grandmother that live to be 100 is on my mother's side of the family, her name was Egbertje J. Bloemsma Vander Kooi. Although she died in 1958, 5 years after I was born, I never met her as she remained in the Netherlands her entire life.  Egbertje gave birth to 13 children. Yes, 13, Wow! Her second child Johannes (my grandpa Vander Kooi) immigrated to the US in 1903 when he was 21 years old. I learned from older relatives that he only traveled back to the Netherlands two times to visit his mother during the rest of his life. The story about one of the trips is included in the blog related to an interview I conducted with my Uncle Dave Vander Kooi. In addition to Johannes, 3 other of her children immigrated overseas, one to the USA and two to Canada. It would have been difficulty to see your children leave, more or less permanently from your life.

Based on research that some of my relatives that still live in the Netherlands completed, I have learned a little about my great grandma's last years. It appears she was quite a woman. A few newspaper articles about her 100th birthday and her death tell us a little about this dutch woman and matriarch.

From a newspaper article in the "Leewarder Courant" dated October 10, 1957:

"Grandma Eibertje celebrates her 100th birthday"
In honor of the 100th birthday of Mrs. E. Vander Kooi-Bloesma, Grandma Eibertje, the flag was placed on the Tower of Dronrijp. Also, many inhabitants of the Village had placed a flag at their homes. Many came to congratulate grandma and she cheerfully accepted all of the best wishes. Mayor D. Torensma addressed the centenarian on behalf of the village government of Menaldumadeel and presented her with an envelope and its contents. The commissioner for the King of Friesland, Mr H. P. Linthorst Homan, was unable to be there due to official business, but he sent best wishes in writing. In the evening, both the local music bands and the Christian Choral group honored Grandma Eibertje.

There was an additional newspaper article published the next day in the Franeker News:entitled "Enormous interest for 100 year old Grandma Eibertje"

Some additional information from that article includes the following:

No one on Tuesday needed to doubt whether there was sufficient interest for the centennial observance of Grandma Eibertje. It was not only because of the large number of flags waving in the village, but also the red, white and blue flag was waving at the "Old White" in the autumn sunshine. [non-translation note of my relative; "The Old White" is the Reformed Church in Dronrijp that Grandma Eibertje and some of her family attended - it is a large white building used to celebrate the occasion] It was filled to the rafters.  She was filled with joy celebrating with her family and a table was filled with fruit, flowers, telegrams, letters and gifts. The mayor made a short speech and said Eibertje was "an example of vitality".

Other facts learned from research and obituaries includes:

At the age of 20, she married my great grandfather, Jentje Douwe Vanderbilt Kooi, on August 8, 1878. This was not her first marriage as she was previously married on July 15, 1877, but her first husband died 2 1/2 months later on August 4, 1877. I will need to research as to how he died.

She almost always wore a traditional dutch Frisian headpiece. This usually had gold ornaments on each side. She is wearing one of these headpieces in every photo I have of her.

One obituary states that she passed away unexpectedly on February 27, 1958. "She was having her morning tea with her daughter and suddenly became ill and succumbed to a stroke that she did not survive". The article goes on to reflect on her recent 100th Birthday celebration stating "In our thoughts we look back to her beaming face when fellow villagers, family and friends presented her with their gifts and congratulations. How energetic she was".

She was hardly ever ill and was remarkably alert for 100; she could walk well and knit up a storm.

I wish I had met this woman who was loved by so many.