Johannes Vrugtman

VRUGTMAN, Johannes, 93, of Midlothian, Va., died March 4, 2009. He was born January 15, 1916 in Deventer, Netherlands and immigrated to the U.S. in 1938, marrying Julia Kavelaars of Rotterdam, Netherlands on October 1, 1939 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He received his BA at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan and an MBA at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He worked in overseas shipping at Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (N.A.S.M.), now known as the Holland America Line. He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947, then entered the U.S. Civil Service, retiring in June 1976 as Senior Systems Analyst at the Department of Transportation, Fort Eustis, Va. Johannes was an avid collector, researcher, & historian of Netherlands stamps and postal history from the 16th century to modern times. He was predeceased by his wife of 59 years, Julia Kavelaars Vrugtman in 1999. He is survived by his son, John Anthony Vrugtman and his wife, Cindy of Hightown, Va.; his daughter, Gwen V. Bagley and her husband, John, of Providence Forge, Va.; his granddaughter, April Vrugtman and her husband, Tim Kiter, of Orlando, Fla.; and many family members in the U.S. and the Netherlands. The family wants to thank the staff and residents of Brandermill Woods Retirement Community, the staff at Johnston-Willis Neuroscience Wing and the staff at The Laurels of Bon Air for all their help and comfort.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.