Jakob "Jack" Kempenaar

On December 1, 1942 Jakob Hendrik Kempenaar was born in the village of Koostertille (in the province of Friesland, in The Netherlands). His parents were Hein Klaas Kempenaar and Aagtje de Vries. His parents had a dairy farm as also both sets of his grandparents had been dairy farmers. He was the second (and last) child of his parents; his elder sister was born 9 years earlier; Grietje Tjitske Kempenaar.

After primary school, Jack went to the ULO (highschool) and after that he went to the HLS (Higher Agricultural School). Because Jack deemed this last school too theoretical and not practical enough, he did not complete this school and followed it up by doing the MLS (Medium Agricultural School) from which he graduated in 1963(?).

(There was a time when he was a teenager that he wanted to be an airplane pilot but his father did not think it was a good idea. Because the family dairy did not offer good opportunities for the future Jack then wanted to move to the province of Groningen where there were farms available and then convert one to a dairy farm. Also, this did not seem a good idea to his father.)

As a teenager of about 16 or 17 years old he met his future wife Saakje Annema at a social event in the village of Veenwouden and they started dating. They dated for a few years and got engaged in 1964 and married on October 12, 1965. After they got married they settled in Kootstertille where he worked on the family dairy with his parents. The next year their eldest son, Hein, was born.

Around that time a small dairy in the neighboring village of Oostermeer came up for sale, which did have more future prospects than the family dairy. They bought it and moved there in the spring of 1967. In December of that year their daughter Ineke was born. After Jack’s father died, the family dairy closed down and all cattle were moved to Oostermeer. Jack was a real visionary and pioneering dairyman and in 1968 a free stall barn was built, one of the earlier ones in the nation. Jack always continued in this manner and in several years’ time was one of the leading dairymen in the area and

later also in the province. Busloads of dairymen from all around the nation and other countries visited the dairy throughout the years.

Their third and last child, Luut, was born in 1977. Jack and Saakje continued the dairy in Oostermeer until 1986, when because of government regulations concerning milk production and manure regulations they decided to move to Como, Texas where there were no such stringent regulations. In Texas they continued as they had been doing since they started in the dairy business. In Como their dairy also quickly grew and many new initiatives were successfully developed. Currently their dairy, Still Meadow dairy, is a large and modern dairy, which is now run by their son Luut and his wife Mimi.

Jack’s father, Hein Klaas died in 1971 at the age of 63 years. His mother Aagtje died in 1974 at the age of 67 years. His sister Grietje died in 1991 at the age of 58 years.

He is survived by his loving wife Saakje of sixty years and their three children. Hein Kempenaar, Ineke Kempenaar and Jan-Wick, Luut Kempenaar and Mimi.

He was also the grandfather of seven grandchildren: Rick Kamminga and his wife Sophie, Sanne Kamminga and Mark, Lotte Kamminga, Jake, Rylen, Laney and Kurt Kempenaar.

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