We were sadly informed that AJ van Kempen has passed away on last Thursday 31st of May.
Marijke Fleuren, President of the EHF, shared her thoughts with us about AJ “Remembering AJ, my first thought is that he was a real hockey family man. Heart warming, always interested, always ‘in’ to do a job. He was a service orientated person, but, as a former Umpire, also quite critical. This combination made him the characteristic person he was.”
She added “He contributed a lot to the umpiring side of the KNHB. Our EHF Executive Board Member Peter Elders was a dedicated fan of AJ. He served the FIH and EHF as judge, as TO and as TD from 1993-2008. His last EHF appointments as TD was at Klein Zwitserland during our joint U16 boys and girls tournament, where he did a great job.”
Marijke went on that during the last few weeks his health was going down. “Nevertheless he watched our EHL finals in Bloemendaal on TV. His daughter told me that he was fully engaged in the game! Hockey was his life”
Marijke concluded “On behalf of all our members I offer our sincere condolences to his wife Margriet daughter Brigit and son Robert-Jan. He will be missed, but never forgotten. Dear AJ rest in peace.”