He ate every week in the village hall, he was a regular guest in the De Babbelaer meeting center and he was a volunteer at the repair café. If there was something to do in Reek, Sjaak van Tilburg was there. He would have turned 101 years old in May, but Sjaak died three weeks before his birthday. It is still a great loss for his family.
Sjaak’s daughters and sister look back with great pleasure on the day he turned 100. “Awesome. That was so beautiful. In the morning we had dinner with a small group here in De Babbelaer. Harmony came and the whole village turned out. Sjaak was adored in Reek,” says daughter Mien Manders-Van Tilburg.
Sjaak’s hundredth birthday did not go unnoticed. The brass band walked through the decorated streets and the mayor gave a speech. “We have decided to offer you a tree,” said the mayor. That wouldn’t be a problem, according to Sjaak, because he was always good with a shovel.
The tree that Sjaak received now stands in front of the house where he lived. For his daughter Mien it is emotional to stand by the tree. “But also very beautiful. The tree has already grown well.”
“He really didn’t want to join the card club, because that was really for elderly men.”
Another beautiful memory from Sjaak’s family is how he was guest of honor at the opening of the Aldi in Reek two years ago. He was driven to the new supermarket on a cart. When Mien asked him what he was going to buy in the store, the answer was short but sweet: “A mik and chocolate biscuits.”
Sjaak’s biggest dream was to live to be 101 years old. Marja van Tilburg, Sjaak’s only living sister, remembers that he didn’t feel that old at all. “He didn’t want to be old. He was active in the senior citizens’ association, where he collected old newspapers and maintained the cemetery. He really didn’t want to join the card club, because that was really for elderly men. He didn’t want to be part of that.”
Mien still remembers well the last time she saw her father. “I told him he looked so good he could get to 101. Then he said: ‘Yes, Mientje, but I get tired very quickly.’ That’s the last time I saw him. But Reek has not forgotten him, neither has our family and neither have I.”
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