THE BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER
Battle Creek, Michigan
Friday, February 22, 1985
Willem PetWillem Pet of Flagler Beach, Fla., and formerly of Battle Creek, died Tuesday in Coastal Communities Hospital in Bunnell, Fla.
He was born in Indonesia, where his father managed a rubber plantation, and moved to Battle Creek in from Leiden, The Netherlands, with his family as the first persons to come here under the 1953 Refugee Relief Act.
He was the former owner and manager of Streenuil Pottery Works in Leiden and was experienced as a ceramics and art teacher and manufacturer.
He was a veteran of World War II. having served in the Dutch Army. He was studying at the university in Leiden when the Germans occupied The Netherlands. He was a German prisoner for a time, escaped, joined the Dutch underground and also studied art in The Hague at one of the few schools not closed by the Germans.
In Battle Creek, he worked as a custodian for the Pennfield School District before retiring in 1983.
Surviving are his wife, the former Helena VanZijp: daughters, Cecilia Boyer of Battle Creek and Julia Edwards of Cleveland, Ohio; a son, Willem Pet of Ithaca. N. Y.; seven grandchildren; and a sister, Johanna Jansma-Pet of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Memorial services were scheduled for today at the Craig Funeral Home in Bunnell.
Memorial donations to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart fund.
