It is with deep sorrow that we note the passing of Jacob Leisler Institute benefactor R. J. Jippe Hiemstra at his home in Buskirk, New York, on April 12, 2020, of pneumonia and congestive heart failure. Mr. Hiemstra was the husband of Leisler Institute Trustee and Board Secretary Annette van Rooy.
Jippe was born on October 3, 1941, in De Bilt, The Netherlands, and moved to New York in 1976 to serve as director and president of Oremco, Inc., a joint venture between Dutch steel producer Hoogovens and British Steel. He became actively interested in New York’s Dutch colonial period and its legacy. He joined the New Netherland Institute’s board of trustees in 2007 and served as its president from 2013 until his death. For his role in helping to promote Dutch culture in the United States and abroad, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands bestowed upon him the honor of Membership of the Order of Oranje Nassau on April 30, 2005. The trustees and staff of the Jacob Leisler Institute extend our sympathies to Mr. Hiemstra’s wife, Annette, and his family and friends.