On 22 May, the day of our annual adoption concert, our much-valued honorary board member Jacques Aussems passed away at the age of 81. Jacques was a co-founder of our foundation in 2003 and served as secretary and deputy chair from the outset until 2016. In his role at the Foundation, Jacques made a special contribution over the years to raising the profile of the adoption scheme for the American cemetery both nationally and internationally. In 2015, he was able to celebrate the achievement of the Foundation’s goal: the adoption of all the graves and names on the Wall of the Missing. On 14 November of that year, our patron, Governor Theo Bovens, presented the final adoption certificate to pupils from Broekland College in Hoensbroek. This meant that all 8,301 graves and all 1,722 names on the Walls of the Missing now had a registered adopter. A historic milestone had been reached!

In addition to carrying out the usual secretarial duties, he acted as the Foundation’s point of contact with central, provincial and local government, served as coordinator and co-implementer of various projects within the Foundation, and initiated the publication of the annual newsletter.

In recognition of all his work for the Foundation, Jacques was appointed an honorary board member following his departure in 2016. We shall continue to remember him with great gratitude.