Today at 1:00 PM • Updated today at 1:28 PM
More than three hundred people gathered in Berghem on Monday morning to pay their last respects to Bas van Lanen (47). The Berghem resident most likely died as a result of a crime at the end of May. On Monday a funeral procession went through the village. The hearse also made a tour of the parking lot at Berghem Sport football club, where Bas was a youth coach.
“This was the last thing we could do as an association,” says Danny van den Heuvel, chairman of Berghem Sport. “We received a lot of questions about whether something was being organized by the association. You noticed that everyone was working on it all week and that there was a need to get together. We arranged this in consultation with the family.”
Around half past ten, members gave Bas a final greeting in the club’s parking lot. “The turnout was great,” says Van den Heuvel. “Children, adults, the elderly: it affects the entire village. The impact of what happened is not only great at our association, but throughout Berghem.”
A few ladies who were present call it ‘bizarre’ what happened to Bas. “He was a sweet man,” says one of them. They also notice how big the impact is. “Especially for the children: you notice that everyone is upset.”
“A good colleague has passed away in a way that you would not expect at all.”
Former colleague Fred describes Bas as a man with a heart of gold. “He was honest and straightforward. A good colleague has passed away in a way that you don’t expect at all. Very unreal; you don’t understand how this can happen.”
He notices every day that the death makes a deep impression. “You think about it several times a day. Today we can pay him one last respect, it’s the least you can do.”
Bas’s funeral is at twelve o’clock. The service can be followed via a live stream in the football club’s canteen. “Anyone who wants to be there can also pay their last respects to Bas,” says chairman Van den Heuvel.