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His name will ring a bell with many people in Haps and far beyond. Frans van de Camp was known as ‘the statue man’. Omroep Brabant has made several stories and even a documentary about him. But for daughter Jolanda he was much more than that. A loving and special father who died much too young, he was only 65.
At first glance, the Van de Camp family from Haps seems like a very ordinary family with two children: Jolanda and her brother Twan. Father Frans worked hard and mother Riet took care of the children. But when Jolanda starts to talk, it quickly becomes clear that her childhood was anything but average.
“My brother Twan became seriously ill at a young age and spent a lot of time in the hospital,” she begins. An enormous concern for her parents and the situation had a major impact on her mother’s health. She suffered several strokes and her father took on a large part of her care: “He did that for years with a lot of love and dedication.”
And then there was her father’s great passion that also played a major role in Jolanda’s childhood: his images of saints. “The whole living room was full.” Not really something you’re looking forward to as a teenager, right? Jolanda laughs: “I didn’t like it and was ashamed of it. We always had to be very careful. And at that age you are also very concerned with what others think.”
She later started to think differently about her father’s collection. Now she is proud of what he has achieved and how he has worked on it with heart and soul.
Her father’s love for images started at a very young age: “He was only seven when he bought his first statue of Mary with the quarter he received from his father. He already had a fascination for Mary. Over time, other statues were added, but Mary has always remained his favorite. He had something for her.”
At a certain point his collection became so large that her father decided that others should be able to enjoy it too. No sooner said than done: he started a museum. It earned him the nickname ‘the statue man’.
“It was not just an exhibition of statues of saints,” Jolanda explains. “It was a part of my father, his soul. An expression of his faith. It gave meaning to his life and it was an outlet for him. An opportunity to escape from the worries at home.”
Jolanda has always had a special bond with her father. “I was really a daddy’s girl. We did a lot of fun things together. He took me to flea markets, but we also went shopping together, for example. He thought that was great fun. How many daughters can say that about their father?” Her father was also her confidante: “I told him things that my mother didn’t know about. So yes, we were very close.”
“He had an eye for the small miracles of life.”
“Soft, sweet, caring and with an eye for the little miracles of life,” is how Jolanda describes him. “He taught me that despite worries, you can still enjoy life. And that enjoyment lies in very simple things: a bird that sings, flowers that are in bloom. I am very grateful that he gave me this.”
Frans was not only a sweet and caring husband and father, but also a very sweet grandfather. “Unfortunately, he was only able to witness the birth of his first grandchild, my daughter Esmee. But he enjoyed her so much. He played puppet shows for her and on Fridays they always went to eat chicken together, so cute.”
In 2020 they received terrible news. Frans had been suffering from headaches for some time and was forgetful. “We initially thought it was Alzheimer’s. But it turned out to be a brain tumor.” After the diagnosis, according to his daughter, he had good years until he really deteriorated in 2023 and died on June 7, 2024.
The farewell was difficult and sad, but a difficult task still awaited Jolanda and her brother Twan: finding a new home for the thousands of statues. “It was a painful process to dismantle everything he had built with so much love and care, but we succeeded: part of the collection can now be seen in Vaals.”
Documentary on Brabant+
‘Away from seventh heaven’ is about Frans and his enormous collection of statues of saints. Unfortunately, he had to say goodbye to his museum in 2018. The building from which he rents the shed has been sold. Frans has to look for a new space for all his thousands of images. That is not easy, but he sets out in search with good courage and hope. We followed him on the last guided tours, cleaning up his museum, the search for a new museum and at home with his wife Riet.
The documentary Out of seventh heaven can be viewed for free and without an account on the video platform Brabant+.
