Stamboom de Vries-Bouma, Eikenaar-Brienesse

Lykel en Jenny besteden nu een flink deel van het jaar aan het trekken met hun "Winebago Motorhome".
in de winter naar het zuiden van Amerika en in de zomer naar Alaska

by Hu Filleul

Big Blue and Cousins is a great volunteer organization   but try to find a  volunteer  for Volunteer of the Month! People all of a sudden become very modest. When looking for a September candidate, I noticed that Lykel Hoekstra had again been instrumental in organizing a power boat to take members of the Digital Camera club on a photo shoot of the Tall Ships. I sent Lykel an email suggesting that he was a good candidate and asking for a bit of a biography. Right away he agreed.  When you need a good volunteer, ask a Dutchman.
“The Big Blue and Cousins organization provides an enormous amount of opportunity to gain knowledge and friendship. I have never before belonged to an organization that provides so much sheer pleasure.”

Born near Amsterdam in Holland in 1931, Lykel spent the war years under German occupation. After finishing high school, where English became his second language, he joined the Dutch Navy in order to obtain an education in radio, radar and electronics. During his last year of a seven-year Navy career they sent him, as part of a naval crew, to the United States to take over minesweepers under the NATO agreement. He spent almost a year in the USA and his time in the US made him think about immigrating to North America.

Upon return to Holland, he and his fiancee, Jenny, decided to get married. He then worked for a Medical X-ray camera company in Holland as a service engineer. Like so many of their countrymen they decided to emigrate to Canada and chose Vancouver. There, he found work as a transmission engineer with BCTel, working his way to Victoria in 1962 and eventually becoming a long-distance facility planner and executer. In 1980, he and Jenny, his constant supporter, saw an opportunity and purchased the independent Radio Shack dealership in Sidney. They expanded this with the help of their children and finally owned a second  Sony  type store and a private post office.

In 1990 they thought they had had enough and sold it all, retired, and travelled by motor home around North America. While travelling they stayed in New York where Lykel visited a laptop computer store and started his computer interest with a new laptop computer. While visiting Palm Springs he joined a computer interest group which he found helpful. After 145,000 km and three different motor homes they decided to slow down and settle in their new home at Dean Park in North Saanich.

After they settled in Victoria, a friend mentioned the existence of BB&C and, after some inquiries, he joined in October of 1999. Lykel said that  Although initially somewhat intimidated by all the knowledge around me, George Bowden set me at ease.  George is still helping Lykel with the mysteries of wireless connections. Lykel has always tried to participate wherever possible, helping with the Senior SIG on Monday mornings, helping find presenters for the monthly meetings, and assisting Rolande Kimmons with her card-making SIG.

In Nov 2000 Lykel wrote about PhotoSuite 4, his first Newsletter review, in which he emphasized the fun of using the program. Then in Feb. 2002, he introduced an article on MS Encarta Reference Library. It was completed in conjunction with a 14 year-old student friend, Zorion Terrel, who Lykel gave credit for most of the review, including an internet update. In November 2002, Lykel first showed us his interest in photo manipulation by writing a review of Digital Image Pro I always marvel how so many immigrants become proficient in several languages where we seem to have trouble with more than one.

Lykel also joined the Digital Camera SIG, helping Ken Beattie with presentations, and setting up two Photoshoot cruises. Although the first, to Race Rocks, was fog-bound, the second cruise during the Tall Ships festival was most successful.

Lykel s final statement in our email conversation illustrates what so many members have discovered:  The Big Blue and Cousins organization provides an enormous amount of opportunity to gain knowledge and friendship. I have never before belonged to an organization that provides so much sheer pleasure.