CORNELIS GLAUDEMANS

GLAUDEMANS Cornelis P. J. Glaudemans (Age 85) On Thursday February 1, 2018, Cornelis Piet Johan Glaudemans of Rockville, MD died in his own bed, following a period of respiratory and cardiac complications. Beloved husband of his late wife Marlene Glaudemans (2005), and proud father of Jon (Jennifer) Glaudemans, Stephen (Guita) Glaudemans, Peter (Laura) Glaudemans, Paul (Darlene) Glaudemans, Mark (Amy) Glaudemans, Matthew (Dana) Glaudemans, Neil, as he was known to all, lived a life of full measure. He was born on April 16, 1932, the youngest of three sons of Johan Piet Glaudemans (1899-1991) and Wilhelmina Johanna Glaudemans (van Heijningen) (1893-1975), in Semarang, on the island of Java, Indonesia. Neil's father was employed in the Dutch shipping industry, and the family was stationed in Indonesia throughout the pre-war years of 1930 to 1942. Neil was the last surviving child of Johan and Wilhelmina, having previously lost his beloved brothers Piet (1929-2005) and Willem (Wim) (1930-2009). In 1942, at the age of 10, Neil and his brothers, along with their mother, were taken prisoner by the invading Japanese forces and they spent the next three years in Japanese concentration camps, separated from their father and then their mother who spent the years in other Japanese camps. Camp conditions were horrendous, leading to some of the first war crime convictions. Neil and his parents and brothers survived and returned after the war to the decimation of post-war Netherlands. There, Neil returned to his education, graduating in the spring of 1954 from Utrecht University with a B.Sc. in Chemistry. That fall, Neil emigrated to Canada, following the path of his soon-to-be wife's family move to Montreal. After marrying his high school sweetheart, Marlene Fernande Perquin on October 6, 1956, their first of six sons was born, Jon Michael (1957). After earning his PhD. in Biochemistry from McGill University, the family of three moved to Philadelphia, PA, their newly-adopted country, and Neil's first post-graduate job. By 1961, after a brief and successful stint in the chemical manufacturing industry and the birth of three more sons: Stephen William (1958), Peter Cornelius (1959), and Paul Nicholas (1959), Neil was awarded a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pursue biochemical research. Later, after a professorship at New York University Medical School, and an Assistant Professor appointment at Yale University Medical School, Neil gained a tenured appointment at the NIH. The family moved to Bethesda, and then, Rockville, MD, and Neil began an illustrious 30+ year career as a scientist at the then-named National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIADDK). Shortly after moving to Maryland, Matthew Francis (1962) and Mark Joseph (1962) were born, and with six sons born in five years (two sets of twins), Neil and Marlene set out to raise a family in America, separated by an ocean from their parents and siblings. Neil was passionate about everything he experienced and anyone he met, but focused most of his attention on his family, his science, his music, his painting and photography, and his sailing. Often referred to as the seventh son, Neil's relentless enthusiasm for life and adventure shaped many of the family's weekends and holidays. As an early parent organizer (1972) of the now-sprawling Montgomery (MD) Soccer., Inc. (MSI) soccer league, Neil's teams were well-known in the then-young soccer league as having two to four of his sons on the field, and his booming voice yelling "SCORE!". In partial testament to Neil's ability to inspire others with his passion, all of his six sons, and nearly all of his grandchildren, played soccer through their high school years. Family vacations focused on camping, hiking, sailing, and the seashore tents and sleeping bags, bunks and cabins, and lots of sunsets and campfires. Neil's scientific contributions focused on ever-more sophisticated understandings of the ways in which the body's antibodies would bind to foreign bacterial antigens in the body. In later years, with the advent of monoclonal antibodies, Neil began to apply the fruits of his research in the development of vaccines, including shigella, a tropical disease that afflicts millions. He was widely-published, spoke frequently at conferences, and spent time in Japan, Germany, France, and Yugoslavia as a research fellow reflecting not only his scientific prowess, but also his ever-engaging speaking style, and, perhaps, his lifelong year-round habit of arriving at work in sandals. During his career at NIH, Dr. Glaudemans authored or co-authored over 190 peer-reviewed publications, and mentored dozens of post-doctoral research fellows, who arrived from countries all over the world to work in his laboratory. Building on an early mentoring relationship with Dr. Michael Heidelberger, Neil began his NIH career under the wing of Dr. H. G. Fletcher. In 1973, Neil became head of the Laboratory of Chemistry, a position he held for 25 years until he retired in 1998 to care for his wife, Marlene, who had developed Parkinson's Disease. His third love, music, began in the Japanese concentration camp, where he was kept in the same camp as Szymon Goldberg, considered to be among the world's greatest violinists. Captured during a layover in Indonesia, Goldberg was allowed to play a violin once a week in Neil's camp, and he took Neil under his wing, teaching him the fingerings on a piece of bamboo used as a proxy. On his return to Holland after the war, Neil's parents bought him a violin, and launched his successful career as an amateur musician He was active with the NIH Symphony Orchestra, organized duos, trios and quartets, and was mentored by professional musicians nearly his entire adult life. In the early 1970s, Neil organized the Solisti de Rockville, an ad hoc group of family and friends who would come together each Deceber to practice and then perform at the family Christmas carol sing-along parties. As with his love for soccer, his passion was contagious; each of his children play music, and his original violin remains a part of the extended family collection of instruments. Neil was a gifted artist, able to draw and paint across the spectrum, from caricature to fine line drawings, from watercolors to oils and charcoals. He delighted in small sketches, often adding a dash of color, gluing the drawing to a postcard, and sending to a child or friend. His more formal works and portraits in oils, charcoals, and watercolors captured scenes from sailing, his immediate family, and his brothers and parents. His eye for a scene also informed his photography, and his pictures reflected his repeated admonition to always compose a photo with a focus on the person. As the son of a merchant mariner, Neil loved sailing, and after an early membership in the NIH Sailing Club, he and Marlene purchased a series of ever-more capable traditionally-designed sailboats that the family would use to explore the rivers and harbors of their beloved Chesapeake Bay. Building on these inshore experiences, Neil's thirst for adventure led to a series of coastal and offshore sailing trips, where he introduced most of his sons to the solitude and beauty of ocean sailing. Later, after Marlene's death, he purchased a home in Somesville, ME, on Mt. Desert Island, surrounded by sailboats whose designs harkened to his own boats. He is survived by his six sons and their wives, Jennifer (Jon), Guita Boostani (Stephen), Laura (Peter), Darlene (Paul), Dana (Matthew) and Amy (Mark), eleven grandchildren, David Michael Cruz-Glaudemans and Katharine Lynn Adkins (Jon and Jennifer); Timothy, Emily and Laura Glaudemans (Paul and Darlene); Nicholas and Benjamin Glaudemans (Peter and Laura); Jessica and Michael Glaudemans (Matthew and Dana); and Magdelyn and Ethan Glaudemans (Mark and Amy). In addition, Neil is survived by two great-grandchildren, Haley Jo Adkins (Katharine and Dustin Adkins) and James Carlos Cruz-Glaudemans (David and Marisa Cruz-Glaudemans). From his roots in Indonesia, his teen years and schooling in Holland and Canada, to his many professional and personal accomplishments, Neil was a man of many talents and passions, whose big heart and relentless enthusiasm affected everyone who knew him. He will be missed. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at St. Peters Catholic Church, 2900 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832 on Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 10 a.m. Interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery will follow later in 2018. Family and friends will be celebrating Neil's life at a reception following the funeral mass. The reception will start at 11:30 a.m. at Brookville Academy, 5 High Street, Brookville, MD. 20833 In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donations to Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army. Please view and sign online family guestbook at: www.pumphreyfuneral home.comPlease view and sign online family guestbook at: www.pumphreyfuneral home.com