Sent an Email!!

Although I already wrote one post today, I am so excited I had to write again!  I was just fooling around on my computer googling the name Rosalinde Tuinman. 

On the funeral program from Kees' funeral, I thought she was one of Kees' children, married to Martin Hurkens.  I got a number of "hits" for the name Rosalinde Tuinman.  As I was going through them, I found a website with a picture of a band from the early 60s.  A bunch of people had written comments, mostly relatives of the band members, etc.  One of them was Rosalinde Gardener (remember...Tuinman on google translate is Gardener).  I was able to click on her name and an email popped up with her email address of "mhurkens", which of course, led me to believe my assumptions are correct that she's Mrs. Hurkens! 

So, I sent her an email, explaining that if my research is correct, she and I are third cousins!  Hopefully she's a nice lady and doesn't think I'm a stalker and decides to write back!  I also found what I think is her picture on a facebook type page called Hyve.  However, I won't post her picture here without her permission.  Hopefully she checks her email regularly and writes back!!!

Success!!

Well, my message on ancestry.com worked!  Today I got an email with an attachment of Kees Tuinman's funeral program.  I typed it all into google translate and here is what it said (not all in correct English, but understandable):

Kees was in his life caring for the children dutifully Mies and his surroundings. He is also enjoying life.  Interested to the wellbeing of others, he was always up for a good conversation and socializing with family and friends.  He could enjoy nature, forest, sea, beach and the sun.  As the sun was shining! With incredible will power, he yielded to succeed in life, able to overcome.

Just because he managed to enjoy life and had a cheerful,  humoristic impact. 53 years has Kees with Mies shared life and enjoyed by children and grandchildren.
In recent years begun the physical and mental limitations (which) may play a role. With much love and care has been at his side Mies
We are grateful that we, Mies, children and grandchildren, a dignified farewell were able to take. Kees, it will be very different now you're gone.

For your interest and sympathy after the death of my dear husband, our father, father and grandfather are proud we are sincerely grateful.

Mies Tuinman – van Bemmel

Rosalinde Tuinman en Martin Hurkens

Maaike – Jochem

Anne – Bas

Kees en Henriette Tuinman – Vermeulen

Rob – Nathalie

Michel

Louis

Breda, 31 december 2004

I am assuming that Mies was, of course, his wife, maiden name van Bemmel.  I guess that Rosalinde was their daughter, married to Martin Hurkens, with possibly four children, Maaike, Jochem, Anne and Bas.  Also a son named Kees married to Henriette,maiden named Vermeulen, with three children - Rob, Nathalie and Michel.  The last name on the list had an asterisk, but nothing to refer to.  Maybe it's a child who passed away or even a beloved pet?? 

I've found a Maaike Tuinman and a Henriette Tuinman on facebook and have sent messages to both.  Hopefully, one or both of them will be my relative.

This is particularly exciting for me because Kees is the first offspring of one of my grandfather's siblings - he was the child of Cornelius Tuinman and Agatha Speets.  He would have been my father's first cousin.  His children would likely be around my age and his grandchildren members of my children's generation. 

On another note, yesterday after I received the other email which led me to Kees' siblings, I continued to search the Archives for other "Tuinmans".  I came upon my great, great grandfather's baptism documents.  Seeing this kind of paperwork brings my ancestors to life for me.  Amazing!

Back to Work

Now that we have returned to the US, I have resumed my genealogy research.  I tried to pick up where I left off but the task seemed overwhelming.  Once again, I tried searching for the various names that had been dead ends to me before, but try as I might, I found not a single piece of new information. 

So, I decided to go back to the beginning and reread this entire blog from the start, taking note of any loose ends.  I found several places where I had meant to continue researching but never did. 

While I was thrilled to find all of my great, great uncle William's family here in the US, I kept hoping to find someone a little more closely related.  Someone who was the descendant of one of my grandfather's siblings.  If you remember, he was one of 8, and at least two of them didn't survive childhood.  Of the remaining 6, four (besides my grandfather) married and may have had children.

The one that intrigued me the most was Kees Tuinman because he only died in 2005 - well into the "internet age".  I can't believe there isn't more information about him!  But every search led to a dead end.  Actually, there are tons of "hits" for Kees Tuinman, but they are all business people who are clearly still working.  My Kees would have been at least 75 when he died. 

I was getting ready to break down and join ancestry.com, but at nearly $30/month, without any proven results, I keep hesitating.  However, I've had some success with posts on their message board in the past.  So, I posted a message with all of the info I knew about him.  Next, I spent a lot of time recreating my enormous family tree onto their website.  Maybe some other person will stumble upon it and find me!  Before the day was over, I had a response to my message board post!  A very nice Dutch gentleman had done my research and found Kees! 

He gave me specific directions on how to find the correct records on line.  I followed his steps and found what he found!  Not only did Kees exist, but he is the youngest of 4!!   He had translated the info for me and told me the following:

My grandfather's brother Cornelius, born on July 27, 1884 and married to Agatha Alida Speets (born April 2, 1888) had four children:
           Elisabeth Catherine, born 1913
           Catharina, born 1916
           Anna, born 1918
           Cornelis (nickname Kees), born 1927  

Further, I learned that later in her life, Catharina moved to Amsterdam, while Anna and Cornelis moved to Laren.  I had also learned while reviewing some of my older notes, that Kees/Cornelis died in Breda. 

I am of course hoping that all four of these "children" grew up and had lots of babies so that I can track one of them down!!  Stay tuned!