Jan "Jantje" Van Roon aka The Dutchman, left his earthly form Thursday, March 15 at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. His heart finally wore out after a long, valiant fight against declining physical health. He has gone on to join his beloved wife, Arminé, who preceded him in passing in 2001. Jantje was born in Rotterdam, Holland to parents, Andries and Cornelia Van Roon. He grew up ice skating on the canals in the Netherlands, and loved the tulips and windmills of his homeland. He and his family survived the Nazi occupation of Holland during World War II, and he would often tell stories of liberating loaves of bread from the windowsills of German soldiers' bakeries. He joined the Dutch Army, traveled to Indonesia, then to Australia, where he met Arminé, who was working in a club for veteran soldiers. Though Jantje had two broken legs and crutches at the time, he courted Arminé, and she eventually fell in love with the tall, blue-eyed Dutchman. Their only son, Andries, was born in Brisbane, Australia. They saved up enough money to move to the USA, coming through San Francisco, then settling in Chicago. Jantje loved all the sciences, was a professional photographer, master craftsman, and worked as an electro-optical engineer in blue-sky research at Zenith, where he hand-built lasers, video discs and other inventions that affected the future. He and Arminé were world adventurers, including exploration of all 50 states across America. Jantje and Arminé moved to a 44-acre farm in Gallatin, Tennessee, which they loved as their sanctuary. He was an avid collector of rocks, minerals and fossils; lover of vulcanology, meteorology, oceanography, and built his own telescope to gaze at the stars. Both Jantje and Arminé became beloved throughout the Nashville film community, as they often participated in their son's activities for the industry. Jantje never turned down a request for help and gave many of his own treasures away as gifts. Arminé was a Founder of the Armenian Church of Nashville. Jantje spent years pouring his heart and soul into the church where Arminé and he devoted much of their lives. The family asks for prayers to celebrate Jantje's life and soul's transition to join his beloved Arminé, where they will be watching over us.
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