My father

June 10 is Father's Day in Belgium.

This is probably the first picture of my father and mother with their firstborn (me) and must have been taken early in 1941.

My father Petrus Joannes Timmermans (born at Meerbeke on October 14 1913 - died at Ghent on April 20 1980) had a very hard life, but he fully and consequently devoted it to his wife and children to a degree "far beyond the call of duty" as the Americans say.

Before the world war he worked with his father in their carrosserie work shop at Meerbeke as well as for various bosses in Brussels. During the war he was a member of the armed resistance Fidelio - I still treasure his pin - and after the war he entered the gendarmerie (state police) until he retired. His work as a gendarme is also the reason why our family left Okegem and moved to Ghent. My younger brother and myself were born at Okegem, my sister was born in Ghent.

During the second World War, my father fought for his country : Belgium, not Flanders, first as a soldier, then as a resistant of the first hour. When he was buried the Belgian, not the Flemish flag, was draped over his coffin and the Belgian national hymn was played when his remains left the church for the last time. He lived for his family and his country.

My father has been my example and my best friend. He passed away much too soon.