Stamboom de Vries-Bouma, Eikenaar-Brienesse

"Geert Brienesse (2 September 1879) was a farmhand in Tiel. He married his wife, Gerdina van Wijk, in 1901.
She died in 1912 leaving him with four young children: Geertruida Petronella (24-06-1902), Peter (16-12-1903),
Gijsbert Albertus (11-03-1906), _Catharina Gerdina, Cato, (6-04-1908)_

Geert Brienesse placed an advertisment in the newspaper because his children needed a mother. Berendina (Dina) Schurink (17-07-1871),
the daughter of a headmaster, applied. Geert visited Dina and told her that he would marry her but it was out of necessity and not love.
Dina was not a good looking lady but she had a heart of gold and did everything for the children.
A few years later the family shifted to Apeldoorn. Geert managed to buy himself a house with land and he started work for himself.

Geert wanted his son Peter to work the land with him but Dina stopped this as she could see Peter do more.
Peter wanted to be a type-setter and Dina took him to the “Apeldoornse Courant” (the local newspaper).
Peter worked here for 40 years and slowly climbed up the company ladder there.

Gijs managed to go to secondary school for a few years (Mulo) but had to leave and worked as the runner-boy for Simon de Wit (restaurant?).
He wanted to become a policeman, studied for it and passed his exams. Later he worked in Den Haag.

Annie Schurink, the writer of this page, worked at her sister’s pension in Beekbergen. She came to know oma (Cato)through her family .
Oma and Annie went to pick berries one day and oma met opa on that day. Oma worked as a house servant.
Opa’s father re-married (Johanna Vink) and his new wife asked the two sons to go and live on their own.
She wanted to travel, her new husband was retired from the railways and had free travel.
Oma asked Annie if opa could live with them and he would pay for his stay. And this was done. Opa got on well with Herman, Annie’s husband.
Opa and Oma married in 1930 from their house. The two families stayed close and looked after each others children until opa and oma shifted to Amersfoort because of opa's work.

Annie Schurink.
Annie Schurink is Emmy (Schurink) Haima van der Wal’s moeder. Emmy lived in Christchurch and her brother Piet Schurink in Oxford.
My mother and Emmy used to play together in Apeldoorn.

The family reunited when I came to travel and live in New Zealand.