In Memoriam – Hans de Boer

1955-2021

 

Last night, Hans de Boer (66) passed away due to a brain haemorrhage suffered a few days ago. The employees and Supervisory Board of NLinBusiness are shocked and saddened by his sudden death, only four months after he stepped down as Chairman of our Supervisory Board.

Edo Offerhaus, managing director NLinBusiness: ‘Hans de Boer was the initiator and a strong supporter of our initiative. “More entrepreneurs doing business in more international markets” was what he enthusiastically propagated. During trade missions held under his leadership, doors were opened, and Dutch entrepreneurs were given a platform to showcase their knowledge and skills. Besides this, he was a passionate mentor and counsellor for entrepreneurs with international ambitions. He was invaluable to NLinBusiness. From the very beginning, he was involved in compiling the team, developing the right strategy, and he always stimulated us with implementing our plans. We will miss his intelligence, dedication and sense of humour enormously. Our thoughts are with his wife, children, grandchildren and loved ones. We wish them all the strength in this difficult time.’

Ingrid Thijssen, President of VNO-NCW: “With Hans we lose someone who had his heart really in the right place. He was socially involved, straightforward, creative and for years he has committed himself to entrepreneurship in the Netherlands with a great sense of humor and enormous dedication. He also did this abroad during his much favoured trade missions and with a great passion for strong European cooperation. With his death, Hans leaves behind a big hole in our organisation and wider community. We wish his family and friends a lot of strength with this enormous loss. ”

At his farewell as chairman of VNO-NCW, Hans was named Commandeur in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau by his Majesty the King for his great dedication to entrepreneurs, his continuous efforts to put the Netherlands – what he always called ‘a great country’, on the map internationally, and the many social side activities during his life.

 

Hans, rest in peace.