klik op de afbeelding om naar het gezin van Piet te gaan
click on the image to go to Piet's family
Piet werd in Wanroij geboren waar hij ook opgroeide. Na de basisschool ging hij naar de priester opleiding.
Na deze opleiding, in 1961, werd hij van uit de kerk in Papua New Guinea geplaatst om daar de kerk en de bevolking te ondersteunen.
Toen dit land in 1965 onafhankelijk van Nederland werd wilde de Kerk dat Piet terug kwam naar Nederland maar hij vond het niet goed alles te laten vallen waar hij mee bezig was dus hij trad uit als priester om daar zijn werk onder persoonlijke titel ver te kunnen doen. Hij trouwde met Margareth Pai en samen kregen zij 5 kinderen.
Hij richte een groothandel op onder de naam Macossi Traiding. Hier was hij erg trots op en kreeg voor zijn onderneming in 1988 een handelsprijs. Deze werd uitgereikt in Spanje. De reis hiernaar toe koppelde hij aan een bezoek aan zijn familie in Nederland.
Toen hij in Papua New Guinea terug kwam werd hij hard handig ondervraagd over zijn reis. Er was onrust in het land en er werd gedacht dat Piet deze reis om andere redenen had ondernomen.
Na deze ondervraging hield hij klachten aan zijn rug en ging ervan uit dat hierdoor deze pijn veroorzaakt werd. Na onderzoek in het ziekenhuis in Australië bleek dat het longkanker was en dat hij niet lang meer te leven had. In 1991 is hij overleden.
Piet was born in Wanroij where he also grew up. After primary school he went to priest training.
After this training, in 1961, he was placed from the church in Papua New Guinea to support the church and the population there.
When this country became independent from the Netherlands in 1965, the Church wanted Piet to return to the Netherlands, but he did not approve of dropping everything he was doing so he stepped out as a priest to do his work under a personal title . He married Margareth Pai and they had 5 children together.
He founded a wholesaler under the name Macossi Traiding. He was very proud of this and received a commercial price for his company in 1988. This was awarded in Spain. He linked the trip to this to a visit to his family in the Netherlands.
When he got back to Papua New Guinea, he was questioned hard about his trip. There was unrest in the country and it was thought that Piet had taken this trip for other reasons.
After this interrogation, he kept complaints on his back and assumed that this caused this pain. After an examination in the hospital in Australia, it turned out that it was lung cancer and that he did not have long to live. He passed away in 1991.
in de schoolbanken
herinnering aan zijn vertrek naar New Guinea
memory of his departure to New Guinea
Piet
Maragreth
Makossi Traiding
welkomst feest in Nederland
welcome party in the Netherlands
met zijn gezin op de boot
with his family on the boat
bij vertrek op schiphol
on departure at schiphol
Today we received the message that, after a debilitating illness, died on May 29, 1991 in Kieta on Bougainville
PIET KUIJPERS
husband of
MARGARETH PAI
He was 55 years old.
Kieta: M. Kuijpers-Pai
Henny (Pemu)
Marius (Unsiga)
Lambert (Laita)
Marissa (Minau)
Josephine (Noioma)
The Kuijpers family
Family Pai
Correspondence Address:
Rotscheweg 3
5364 NT Escharen
Piet was buried on May 30, 1991 in Buin on Bougainville.
To his memory, on Saturday 1 June at 3:30 pm a funeral service will be held in the chapel of the Capucennenklooster Basilius van Bruggenlaan 4 in Velp, where there will also be an opportunity for written condolences.
rouwbrief
funeral card
In grateful memory of
PIET KUIJPERS
Born in Wanroij on September 8, 1935.
Died in Kieta on May 29, 1991.
..........................
Piet already knew as a boy that he wanted to go to the mission. He was sent as a brother missionary via Lae on what was then Australian New Guinea to Bougainville. He wanted to work between and with the people there.
The few times that we were allowed to see him in the Netherlands afterwards, it was clear that he felt very close to these people. He spoke with great respect about their traditions, values and especially about their sense of community and caring for each other. He tried to achieve everyone, even if he had to say goodbye to monastic life. As a lay missionary, Piet thought he could do more for the population.
After a few years he married Margareth. This marriage made his relationship with the people of Bougainville his personal responsibility.
In the last period of his illness it became clear how much he has succeeded in his efforts. Det was evident from the great appreciation that the population expressed for what he accomplished together with them.
Everyone knew him, everyone sympathized with him and his family.
We are very happy that some of us have had the opportunity to visit him and have been able to share these feelings.
His indestructible confidence in the assistance of the Virgin Mary must have strengthened him; both at work and in the last months of his life.
Despite his almost unbearable pain, his family, as well as the difficult political situation of the people of Bougainville, remained his main concern.
We would like to thank you for your expressions of interest and compassion during his illness and after the death of our brother, brother-in-law and uncle.
The Kuijpers family
bidprentje
prayer card
Na het overlijden van Piet stond Margreth er alleen voor in de opvoeding van de kinderen. Een aantal jaren heeft er oorlog gewoed in New Guinea. Dit was een moeilijke tijd voor het gezin.
In 1999 waren Mieke(zus van Piet) haar vriendin Ellen op bezoek bij Margreth. Ze wilde alle kinderen bezoeken en op de laatste van de vlucht ging het helemaal mis. Het vliegtuig stortte neer door slecht weer. Niemand overleefde het ongeluk.
After Piet's death, Margreth was left alone to educate the children. War raged in New Guinea for a number of years. This was a difficult time for the family.
In 1999 Mieke (Piet's sister) her friend Ellen visited Margreth. She wanted to visit all the children and on the last of the flight things went completely wrong. The plane crashed due to bad weather. Nobody survived the accident.
bidprentje - prayer card
Margareth .....,
sister-in-law, mother, widow and grandmother.
A woman who deserves so much respect that you should write a book about her. A woman who has experienced so much in the last 25 years behind us that most people would have had to stop there.
As a teacher, she marries an abandoned missionary and has 5 children, 3 sons and 2 daughters. Together with Piet she does big business, especially for the development of their fellow human beings, but in addition, a lot of money is also earned. they are rich.
For the way they do business together, they received an Award in 1988 for the best buisiness management in the Pacific. The large cup is received in Spain. On that occasion, bitches, with the whole family, are visited by the family in Holland. After 2 months back in their home town of Kieta, the civil war breaks out. During this period they are ambushed and robbed twice. They choose for the safety of the family, abandon everything ,, and go back to Buin. the native village of Margrareth.
Piet falls ill. Despite the dangerous war situation, Margareth manages to leave for Australia with him, hoping for recovery. There they are told that Piet has lung cancer and can no longer be helped. She oversees the situation and informs the family in Holland. Some of us, including Mieke, leave and accompany them to Kieta. They also bring the children there because Piet indicates that he wants to die there.
29 May 1991 Piet dies, and Margareth goes back with her children to her native village. There they are ambushed several times and homemade huts are set on fire, so that they have now lost everything.
Because the war situation is going to last too long, she flees with the children to the island of Buka, there is a school because she thinks the children should be educated. She sends her own children, with financial support from the family, but especially from Mieke and Ellen to schools on various islands, even to Australia.
When things get a little safer, she lets the family know that things are going well. The eldest son is married, she became Grandma of granddaughter Mieke.
She herself has started a few cases that are running well and plans to start a fifth case together with Piet's accountant in Arawa, near the site of Piet's former case.
Accountant Aizayah must also lose Margaret to a tragic accident, just three months ago. He drowns when the boat on which he is sailing capsizes.
She is very happy to hear that Mieke and Ellen come over and guides them to the different places and islands where the children work or study. The latter is Marisa on the mountain. She sees at school in Goroka and has not seen her mother since Christmas. Unfortunately they will never see each other again.
'
We keep Margareth in our minds with her own closing word on each letter.
"GOD BLESS YOU"
Chapel Avezaath
June 24, 1999
We thank you for your compassion on the death of Margareth.
Fam. Kuijpers