Jan Swaters and Henriette Cassé

Jan Swaters as a Petty Officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy after he was drafted in the late 1940's. He served as a Medical Laboratory Technician. I believe the photo immediately above is of Jan Swaters graduating from the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Marine (Royal Naval Institute) in Den Helder, NL. Jan Swaters was very proud of his military service. Jan Swaters and his best friend in the Navy wanted to learn how to dance so they enrolled in a dancing school. As the story goes, the dancing school put out a call out for women to participate as there were more males than females enrolled. Henriette Cassé and her sister decided it would be good fun so they joined the class. That is how Jan and Henriette first met each other. As it turned out, Jan's best friend married Henriette's sister and they had three children together (first cousins Herman, Annette and Roy Jansen).

Jan Swaters and Henriette Cassé circa 1951 in Lochem, NL in front of Jan's parents home the year before Jan left for Canada. Jan never saw his father again after that.

Jan Swaters leaving for Montreal, Canada from the Schiphol International Airport in the Netherlands in 1952. While Jan Swaters elegantly flew to Canada, Henriette Cassé, who came a year later in 1953, arrived via passage on a cargo ship.

Jan Swaters and Henriette Cassé on their wedding day June 6, 1953 in Brockville, ON (Jan was 24 years old and Henriette was 22 years old). The top photo is the offical wedding portrait of the couple. The lower left photo was taken on the steps of Brockville United Church where they got married. From left to right is Uncle David van Daalen (the best man), Jan Swaters (the groom), Henriette Swaters (the bride), and Tante Bep van Daalen (the bridesmaid and Jan Swaters's older sister). The lower right photo is another of Jan and Henriette Swaters on the steps of the Brockville United Church immediately after they were married. Note that Henriette is not wearing a wedding dress. It was, in fact, a business suit. As Mom tells the story money was scarce and spending money on a one-time dress seemed frivolous - but spending on a business suit seemed like a good investment. There was no diamond engagement ring and there was no honeymoon either in 1953. In fact, it wasn't till their 25th wedding anniversary in 1978 that Jan and Henriette took their honeymoon and Mom got her diamond ring!

Jan and Henriette Swaters standing outside their first "home" together (actually they rented an apartment on the top floor) on Jessie Street in Brockville, ON sometime in the mid 1950's. Jessie Street runs immediately along the St. Lawrence River and Jan Swaters very much enjoyed swimming and diving off the local pier. It wasn't easy at first. Neither was fully fluent in English. Jan Swaters did not immediately find full time work and made ends meet by working in a lumber yard and cleaning floors in the Bank of Montreal. Jan and Henriette had their first child, Gordon, in March 1954, 9 months after they were married (raising a few eyebrows I am told), which prevented Henriette from working full time outside the home. It was so tough that first Christmas after Gordon was born that if it hadn't been for a "Christmas hamper" from the Salvation Army it would have been a very bleak holiday. Eventually, Jan Swaters secured permanent employment as a Medical Laboratory Technician at the Brockville General Hospital. Jan and Henriette Swaters went on to build a comfortable middle class life in Canada and made sure that their children were well educated. World War Two prevented Jan and Henriette from getting a complete and proper education in the Netherlands. Even though Jan Swaters had been trained and certified as a Medical Laboratory Technician by the Dutch Navy, he had to successfully pass Ontario high-school equivalency exams in order to be eligible to work as a Medical Laboratory Technician in Brockville. In 1991, at the age of 60, and after ten years of part time study, Henriette Swaters received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western University in London, ON with a major in Psychology.

Photo of Oma (Hendrika) Swaters and Jan Swaters upon her arrival in Canada to live with us in August 1963. Opa (Hendrik) Swaters had passed away in 1961. Jan and Henriette had their third and last child, Clifford John Swaters, in July 1963. Oma Swaters arrival allowed Henriette Swaters to go back to full time work outside the home for the first time since 1954 after Gordon had been born. Oma Swaters continued to live with us until 1971, when she moved back to the Netherlands.

Henriette and Jan Swaters in 1978 in Port Elgin, ON at their 25th wedding anniversary party. Mom is admiring her diamond ring given her by Dad. A few days later they went off on on their "honeymoon."

Photo taken at Henriette Swaters's parents 65th wedding anniversary party in Haarlem, NL in 1985. From left to right Henriette Swaters, her mother (Oma) Maria Margaretha Elisabeth van der Eem, in the background her older brother (Oom) Jan Cassé (who emigrated to Sweden after World War Two), her father (Opa) Hermanus Cassé, her older sister (Tante) Bep Cassé, and Jan Swaters. The party was a blast and all the grandchildren from Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain were there (it was the first time the grandchildren had been all together as adults). The Cassé family was gregarious, spontaneous and enjoyed life. Talking about politics was always on! Tante Bep Cassé was a union activist in the Dutch telecommunication industry. Confidently militant and a socialist, beyond a doubt she was a special favourite of mine. It was from Tante Bep that I learned the complete back story to my parents as individuals, how their romance began, and the degree to which World War Two profoundly affected the Swaters and Cassé families.

Henriette and Jan Swaters in 1993 in Port Elgin, ON

Henriette and Jan Swaters in 2014 (about one year before Jan died) at Clifford's and David's cottage in the Muskokas in Ontario

The immediate family at the Celebration of Jan Swaters's Life in late July 2015 in Port Elgin, ON. From left to right: Frank van Daalen (son of Tante Bep van Daalen), Meghan Russett (Margo's daughter and oldest child), Steve Russett (Meghan's husband), Cindy van Daalen (daughter of Tante Bep van Daalen), Tante Bep van Daalen (immediate older sister of Jan Swaters), Lizabeth van Daalen (daughter of Frank van Daalen), Henriette Swaters, Gordon Swaters, Margaret Swaters, Clifford Swaters, Tante Miep (Tante of Henriette Swaters), Annette Jansen (daughter of Tante Bep Cassé who was an older sister of Henriette Swaters), the daughter of Tante Miep (I'm not sure of her name), Ryan Whitmore (Margo's oldest son and middle child) and Andrew Whitmore (Margo's youngest son and youngest child). It wasn't possible for Uncle David van Daalen, Clifford's Partner David, and my wife Charlotte and my children (Sean and Sarah) to attend this service.