A Death in the VBAT Family
In Memoriam Krijn Verhoek
By Eugene Bay
Chairman & CEO at VBAT
It was a strange day! Sharp, golden, spring sunshine suddenly switching to dull, damp, heavy, grey clouds. It was ominous. It was unsettling.
I was outside — well covered with two jackets and a scarf. The location was the ‘begraafplaats’ De Nieuwe Ooster. I was there for a very sad reason. The funeral of one of our first members of staff from our start year, 1984.
I received a message of his sudden passing from his wife, Hilde, a couple of days after he had died. Time froze! It made me stop in my tracks and realise how fragile life was. I started asking some of the older VBATers if they worked along side him. To my horror there was no-one. I felt very alone at that moment. With who could I share my thoughts of Krijn. He deserved to be remembered. I called Leo van Noppen. He has since retired from VBAT but occasionally visits us. He definitely knew Krijn. We decided to go together.
The funeral auditorium was packed. I knew very few people. Only a couple of ex VBATers were there. I was disappointed about that. Was it a case of; ‘colleagues come and go’ or was it because this was the holiday period and most families were away.
Krijn was important to me. WHY?
Rolling back 3 decades of memory I started to resurrect my thoughts on Krijn.
He entered our ambitious little company, Visser Bay Anders van Raam (later Visser Bay Anders Toscani) carrying a permanent, innocent smile on his face. He saw the world as one great adventure. One he was determined to embrace and enjoy with both hands.
This smile was part of a facial double act. His smile was supported with his piercing unflinching dark eyes. They anchored you to the spot. Disabling you from engaging in long complex critique or comment of his work. It took a while to work out what effect he — unknowingly — was having on you. Getting used and comfortable with him took a little while.
Krijn’s smile would occasionally be replaced by a disapproving scowl, when he disagreed. It felt like time had stopped when Krijn scowled. You didn’t want that. Happily this, like the changeable weather I was experiencing today, transformed back to his ‘default’ smile almost as soon as it appeared. His spirit radiated once more.
Most of us starting up design businesses are simply designers with big ambitions. Zero business skills. And a ‘we will see’ commercial savviness. We had, like Krijn, only attended Art College. We were all IDEALISTS.
One Monday morning Krijn came up to me and asked me to follow him to the window in his room. He pointed to something in the parking lot.‘Daar’, he firmly stated. At first I didn’t understand him. Krijn was always a bit cryptic and my Dutch was not well developed in those days. ‘Die mooie auto daar’, he pointed with pride. ‘My God!’ I thought. ‘Which one’ I spluttered nervously scanning a parking lot full of cars. ‘Die schitterende design icon — die grijze Lelijke Eend daar — welke anders ? Ik heb haar 2 dagen geleden gekocht, ze is zo prachtig, zo beeldschoon, ik ben super trots. Wat vind je?’ I froze, what should I say? Krijn wanted the truth.
My first car was also a Design Icon. It was a VW Kever (Beetle). Envelope beige. I was also not long out of Art Collage and a similar age to Krijn. The difference was that I had painfully had to leave my dream automobile behind as it kept costing me an arm and a leg in repairs. I just knew that this would be Krijn’s fate very soon.
I looked at him and asked, ‘can you afford this unique car?’. He then floored me. His answer being instantly burned into my memory. ‘My VBAT salary has made this possible’. ’Thank you.’ He gently added. I was silenced. It hit me that we had given someone other than ourselves the financial means to grow in life. It was a humbling moment. One I will never forget.
Thank you Krijn for making me realise how important it is to share the pleasures big and small of all those in our VBAT family. It makes being a job giver all the more rewarding.
Krijn stayed with us for 4 years. In 1988 he moved on. I never saw him again. I thought of him many times.
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Written by Eugene Bay
Chairman & CEO at VBAT
Edited by Connie Fluhme
PR at VBAT
