Hendrik Tol

Hendrik "Henk" Tol, 86, of Robinson, Texas, passed peacefully through the veil to be with his Heavenly Father on May 13, 2023.Hendrik was born on July 1, 1936 to Hendrik "Hein" and Jannetje "de Kip" Tol in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The eldest of 11 children, Hendrik and his entire family survived the Nazi occupation during WWII that began shortly before he was 4 years old in May 1940. They suffered the horrors and deprivation of war until the Canadians liberated their part of the Netherlands in May 1945, when Henk was almost 9 years old. He attended a Catholic school and spent his leisure time repairing radios and skating long distance on the frozen canals between Amsterdam and Volendam in the winter and bicycle racing and playing soccer in the summer.

Henk became a master mechanic, after which he was drafted into the Royal Dutch Army as a medical corpsman from the ages of 18-20. He then immigrated to Kodiak Island in the territory of Alaska in 1957 and worked as a mechanic in a car dealership in Kodiak. In 1958 he enlisted in the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army and served for 22 years before being medically discharged after 360 days of hospitalization at Brooke Army Medical Hospital in San Antonio, TX. He began his US Army career as a cook, served in many diverse capacities, such as jump master, military policeman and investigator, US Army Customs inspector, a member of the ski patrol in a US Army mountain division, manager of a large military print shop in Germany, liaison between the US Army and landlords renting 2,000 housing units to US soldiers in part of Germany, and ended his career in US Army Intelligence as a German language specialist and interrogator at Fort Hood, Texas.

He spoke several languages: Dutch, German, English, Danish, French, and Arabic and had a charming Dutch accent. He had a mechanical mind and a reputation for being able to fix anything that was broken. He met his wife, Kathleen, at the church singles group in Killeen, TX. Everyone knew that he married her for her band saw and she married him for his drill press. He loved reading and learning and earned an associate degree in solar technology and air conditioning and heating at the University of Central Texas in Killeen.

After moving to Waco, he took one class per semester in computer repair at Texas State Technical College. When he ran out of computer repair courses, he took one class per semester in machine shop technology. He enjoyed repairing and building things in his workshop and working on and using his computer.

Hendrik was an Elder and a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He had a great love for his Savior, Jesus Christ, and served in many positions in his congregation. Henk was a Ward Finance Clerk in several congregations for a total of 16 years and later served as a Stake Auditor. He served in the Nursery (with his wife) for two years. He was a volunteer at the Dallas Texas Temple once a week for several years, a Temple and Family History Consultant (with his wife) assisting church members and non-members with their genealogy research for the past 9 years, and as a service missionary (with his wife) every other Tuesday at the Home Storage Center in Austin for the past 6 years.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons, Spencer Crain Tol and Walter Lovell Tol of Waco, TX; a sister, Theresia Tol of Amsterdam, NL; three brothers, Jacob "Jaap" Tol and Franciscus "Frans" Tol of Amsterdam, NL, and Albertus "Albert" Tol of Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Kathleen Crain Tol; a son, Mark Hendrik Tol and his wife Mei Lan of North Richland Hills, TX; two daughters, Iris Jenny Dorsey and her husband Mark of Tom Bean, TX, and Amy Lucille Tol of Robinson, TX; a granddaughter, Courtney Snow and her husband Gary of Tom Bean, Texas; three grandsons, Jason Kilpatrick of Florida, Terence Tol of Temple, and Austin Tol and his wife Britny of Temple; 5 great-grandchildren: Jaden Snow, Blane Snow, Liam Snow, Ariana Tol, and Seguin Tol; brothers, Piet Tol of Amsterdam, NL, Jan Tol and his wife Fien of Volendam, NL; sisters, Johanna van den Ham of Culemborg, NL, Catharina Maria "Rina" Tol of Zwijndrecht, NL, Theresia "Trees" Molema and her husband Frits of Oostzaan, NL and Adriana “Sjaan” Kirkebo of Norway; a sister-in-law Annette Tol of Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

Hendrik will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Hendrik may be made to the Harris Creek Cemetery Association, c/o Speegleville Baptist Church, 469 Speegle Road, Waco, Texas 76712.