Humphrey Maximiliaan Vanden Broek, 89, of Brentwood, California, passed away on Saturday April 13, 2019, peacefully at home in his sleep. He joined his wife, Thera who preceded him in death only three and a half months earlier.
He was born the second of 14 children to parents Frits Ferdinand VandenBroek and Theda Engel Vanden Broek, on October 31, 1929, in the colonial port city of Semarang, capital of the province Jawa Tengah, north coast of Java in Indonesia. Humphrey grew up in a pre-war colonial Dutch East Indies society, until the Japanese invasion during World War II abruptly ended a carefree childhood and he was captured in a Japanese internment camp until the liberation in 1945. In November 1950 the family arrived in Holland where they were initially housed in Elburg (province Gelderland and later on Oisterwijk) in a joint temporary housing for repatriates from the Dutch East Indies. In 1951 they moved to Helmond.
Upon arriving in Holland, Humphrey performed his civic duty and served in the Royal Dutch Air Force from 1951 - 1959 in the rank of leading aircraftman.
He met the love of his life, Walthera (Thera) Martens there in Helmond, and married her in 1959, after which they emigrated to the United States.
With the skills he learned in the Air Force, Humphrey obtained employment at United Airlines in 1966 until he retired in 1994. Known for his love of radio communications and computers, Humphrey was an avid ham radio amateur (WB6AUW) as well as serving in the US NAVY MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System) program (NNN0IWU) for 30 years. He enjoyed delivering messages to families from their overseas deployed members. While he was known as a quiet introverted person, his personality really came out over the radio. He loved watching westerns on television, and any film or program about WWII and listening to classical music.
Humphrey was preceded in death by Thera in late December 2018, after which he was heartbroken. He was also preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Otto, Arnold, and Frans, and sisters Edith, Jacqueline, Lucia, and Sylvia. He is survived by brothers Dirk and James and sisters Ilse, Ferdine, Thea, and Elizabeth.
He is survived by his son Frederick VandenBroek (Roxanne), daughter Joanna (David) Mangiante, and grandchildren Nicholas, Luigi, and Dakota, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews in the U.S. and Europe.
A celebration of life service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, May 3, at Brentwood Funeral Home, 839 First Street, Brentwood CA 94513. A reception will follow immediately following the service.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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