William Jan Prins

William J Prins passed away at home in Houston on February 3rd, 2019 after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. Bill was born in The Netherlands in May, 1933. He was the middle of three children born to Hendrika and Jan Prins of Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Bill grew up in Eindhoven during WWII and his immediate family survived the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands, but it left a permanent mark that gave him an amazing drive throughout his life to make the best life he could for his family, and left him with an unparalleled generosity of spirit. He tried to connect and listen to every person he met. Bill was someone who could strike up a meaningful conversation with anyone he met. No person was more or less deserving than another; an important lesson he passed on to his children and grandchildren. And of course, the War taught him to always keep the pantry full of food and buy doubles of everything!

Bill went to the Delft Technical University from 1950-1957 and earned a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He then served for three years in the Royal Netherlands Army before joining Schlumberger in 1960. His first assignment was in Benghazi, Libya where he met the love of his life, Mary, and they were married in May, 1963. They first traveled to Iran, to an oilfield camp for their “honeymoon”. At another oilfield camp in Saudi Arabia in 1964, their son, Kevin, was born. The family moved to Australia in 1965 and then to The Netherlands where son, Taco, was born. Then it was off to Paris for a year before moving to Nigeria, where daughter, Vanessa, was born in 1970. Bill and Mary decided that the family would stay together and they would send the children to available schools in the countries wherever Bill’s job took them: Egypt in 1971, Indonesia in 1974, Singapore in 1979, France in 1980, Houston in 1982, England in 1989 and The Netherlands in 1993. Bill was always well respected by his staff and clients, as he was a strong and loyal supporter of his fellow engineers and clients. Early in his career Bill took a leading role in a huge increase in oil production in the Dutch North Sea and he was instrumental in finding and opening the base in Ijmuiden west of Amsterdam. He immensely enjoyed his career in the oil business; all the challenges it brought, all the people he met, and all the places he lived. After 39 successful years of service, Bill retired as a Vice President from Schlumberger in 1999.

Bill was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He enjoyed numerous bird hunting trips with friends and family; always enjoying the company of the people and hunting dogs as much as the actual hunting. He enjoyed deep sea fishing as often as he could, and especially enjoyed a trip to Alaska. As a Dutchman he was a born sailor and taught all of his children to sail in the family’s favorite destination of Friesland. There were many adventurous family boat trips taken through the many lakes of Holland. When he was not spending time on the water, Bill was constantly battling the game of golf and played on courses all over the world. He organized many golf tournaments for clients and friends, and enjoyed rounds of golf with his children and grandchildren.

Bill had a love and appreciation of cars and planes that started at a young age. He loved planes and could identify most planes he saw, which was very helpful for his town during the War. He took this love of planes to heart and took flying lessons, which he greatly enjoyed. He owned many favorite cars, his MG and his Jag, throughout his life and owned every car magazine, watched every car show, and went to all car events he could go to. One of his favorite past times was to do research to help his friends buy new cars.

Bill’s sense of humor, love of practical jokes and imitation skills are well known and even famous in certain circles. He could fool almost anyone with his imitations, and successfully tricked his own family on numerous occasions. Upon their retirement, Bill and Mary settled in the US and spent a great deal of time with their children and grandchildren. It was a wonderful time and the grandchildren, Hunter, Noah, Connor, Hannah, Griffin, Logan, Evelyn and Maxwell were introduced to the fun and humor of “Opa.” All the grandchildren have their favorite Opa sayings, and every outing, every meal, every get together was more exciting with Opa there. Although the grandkids knew that an outing with Opa would take longer because of all of the interesting conversations that would happen along the way, they were always keen to spend time with him. Grandsons, Hunter and Noah, were raised by Bill and Mary from 2001 to 2010 after their dad, Kevin, suffered a stroke. They are so proud to count Opa as their best friend. After caring for the boys, Bill then took excellent and loving care of Mary as she suffered a long illness, even while he was also dealing with his own health concerns. We have all learned so many amazing and valuable lessons from Bill that we will cherish forever. None more important than to enjoy life with a full sense of adventure, a fun sense of humor and a heart full of love and generosity.

Bill is survived by his sister, niece and nephew and many dear family friends of The Netherlands; his three children and eight grandchildren of Portland, Oregon and Reno, Nevada; sister and brother in law, niece, nephew and great nephew of Bellingham, Washington; and many great friends made all over the globe by this amazing and memorable man. And last, but not least Bill's devoted and constant companion, His Highness Peanut (HHP). The family would like to thank all of the doctors, nurses and caregivers that took care of Bill, especially Dr. Robert Jackson and Martha. We would also like to thank Rosalba, Peanut's dedicated caregiver. In lieu of customary remembrances the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to: Cancer Research Institute and Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.