The kind of man about whom everyone in the village of Sint Pancras has something to say. Hendrik (Henk) Vroegop is dead. Supposed to have been violently killed just short of his 80th birthday. He was a well-known equestrian trader, politician, but was also convicted of illegal trade and domestic violence, according to documents in the hands of NH Nieuws.
The forensic investigation runs in white suits around the house on the Broeckerhoek, exactly on the border between Sint Pancras and Broek op Langedijk. It has been more than 24 hours since the lifeless body of Henk Vroegop was found there.
He was allegedly beaten with a chair and stabbed with a knife. That says a fellow resident of the plot against the newspaper. A 76-year-old fellow villager is currently detained on suspicion of involvement at the death of the outstanding Pancrasser.
“He certainly deserved a place in this.” On the table in Dirk Snip’s office is the book ‘Typisch Langedijk’, published by him seven years ago and full of striking inhabitants from the villages. On page 101 he is, among his sheep. “Henk had his own opinion. Very positive, but it can also be experienced as negative. And whether you were waiting for that: you got it.”
Illegal wormers
You may know Hendrik Vroegop, born in 1943, from the trade in equestrian equipment. For years he ran a shop on the Bovenweg in Sint Pancras and he was still on the market with horse stuff. The trade he learned from his father can be read in the book.
“He could use me. When I was 18, we were on the market together. I am richly blessed in the trade, but I worked hard for it.” As a true horseman, he attended all equestrian events in the region, but as an entrepreneur Vroegop did not always comply with the law.
The The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority punished him several times for it illegal trade in wormers. He had too often carry cash – also black. In 2013, something remarkable happens: he would have lost 60,000 euros. Forgotten on the car.
When his wife drove away the next day, the envelope with notes of 500 euros must be there from his fallen, he said. An anecdote that many a Pancrasser immediately repeats when you start talking about Vroegop.
And then his activist nature, also inherited from home. When in the 1990s Langedijk wanted to give away part of Sint Pancras to Alkmaar, Vroegop decided to stand for election. “It pissed me off, because my father had fought for the independence of Sint Pancras,” he says in the book ‘Typisch Langedijk’.
‘He was a hard worker’
With preferential votes he comes in second place of the CDA, but in the end he cannot prevent Vroonermeer-Noord from changing from a green area into a residential area of the cheese city. “I almost thought it was traitors,” he said.
Early is expelled from the party due to disagreement and in 2005 he starts the political party Colorful Langedijk with Marcel Brandsma and Mike van Kroonenburg. This will be the largest party in the next election. “It was a hard worker and also a fighter for the village,” says council member Annelies Kloosterboer.
“The whole village is in suspense: who was it and what happened?”
She is the first woman involved in their party, which later merges with Dorpsbelang Langedijk and Hart voor Langedijk into Lokaal Dijk en Waard.
“He pulled the celebration of Queen’s Day out of the doldrums. That is still a big party here today. We never leave the village that day. I recently found a card from him. He found the newspaper interview about the merger of the village parties so much fun that we could get over each other’s contradictions.”
Domestic violence
Early was the father of ten children with several women. He joined the reformed church and, based on his conviction, would also offer shelter to various people on his property and in his house. Several documents show that in 2012 he is accused of the abuse of his daughter.
It can also be read that in 2011 he also came into contact with the judiciary for the abuse of his then wife. He would have been sentenced to prison.
“The whole village is in suspense: who was it and what happened?” Ron Spanjes said to NH Nieuws, chairman of the village council of Sint Pancras. He suspects that there is a lot of speculation, especially when it becomes known who the arrested 76-year-old man is. “In a big city you are more anonymous, but not here.”
Dirk Snip closes the book about striking Langedijkers. “When I heard it, let’s be honest, I was hoping for a natural death. But in this way, it’s bizarre that this happens in a village like Sint Pancras.”
In two weeks, Vroegop would have turned eighty. His words in ‘Typisch Langedijk’: “This is a beautiful village. Livable. Everything is there. People quickly feel at home here. I’m glad I’m Pancras-Langedijker.”