Tony van Renterghem |
| Posted 2009-10-13 by Judy Wight Branson |
| Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Arizona Wednesday, August 05, 2009 Tony van Renterghem, 90, formerly of Flagstaff, died peacefully Sunday, July 19, 2009, at his home in Sequim, Wash. Mr. van Renterghem was born June 28, 1919, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His wife of 34 years, Susanne Severeid-van Renterghem, was at his side when he died. They and their son Pablo moved to Sequim from Flagstaff four years ago. They lived in Flagstaff from 2000 until 2005. Mr. van Renterghem was a writer, historical researcher, philosopher and generalist, who had studied history, art, photography, motion picture arts and contract law. He was fluent in English, Dutch, German and French. Raised in Amsterdam, he was trained as one of the last mounted cavalry officers. He served eight years in the Netherlands Armed Forces, (including combat against the German paratroopers during the Blitz), and five years in the Dutch Resistance during the German World War II occupation of Holland. He was condemned to death by the Nazis, but was never caught. He worked extensively in high-level espionage, helped hide those fleeing Nazi persecution and initiated and ran the film and photo units of the Dutch Resistance (known as the "Underground Camera"). For his wartime activities, he received numerous awards from the Dutch government, and the Israeli Yad Vashem "Righteous Among the Nations" Honor for his efforts in saving Jewish lives. At the end of World War II, Mr. van Renterghem served as public relations officer on the staff of H.R.H. Prince Bernhard (then the Commander in chief of the Netherlands Armed Forces). After an honorable medical discharge from the army, he worked for the Netherlands government and became active in international politics, where he represented the Netherlands as chairman at Cambridge University of the first post-war International Congress (a forerunner of the European Union). In 1948, he emigrated to the United States, where he spent 35 years in the motion picture and television industry, working in photo and cinematography and as technical, historical and script advisor with Twentieth Century Fox Films, Cinerama, CBS, Four Star, and the George Stevens Productions. He was adviser and personal assistant to director George Stevens Sr. on such films as "The Diary of Anne Frank" and the biblical epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told," where he spent months on location in the Glen Canyon area (this was the last film to be shot in Glen Canyon before the dam was built). He loved the beauty of Arizona where he had worked as a cameraman shooting Westerns during his Hollywood days. He was president of Malibu Institute, Inc., working as a writer, consultant and researcher for such varied groups as Twentieth Century Fox, Hoffman La Roche, University of Southern California, the Environmental Management Institute, University of Minnesota, Growth Technology, Inc., SIECUS, the L.A. Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and for years was pro bono research director for CANDLES (the surviving twins of Dr. Josef Mengele's Auschwitz experiments). His book, "When Santa Was A Shaman, The Ancient Origins of Santa Claus and the Christmas Tree" was published in 1995 by Llewellyn Publications and has been translated into several languages. He just completed the autobiography of his Resistance memoirs, "The Last Hussar -- Resistance without Bullets," to be published in 2010 by Dutch publisher, Conserve. One of his proudest accomplishments later in life was serving as the first executive director and co-founding of the "Bud Day" Chapter of Northern Arizona Veterans for Peace. He was also a founding member of the North Olympic Peninsula Chapter for Vets for Peace. At the 2005 Veterans for Peace National Convention, he was given a special award for "his lifetime of devotion to peace and justice." Upon his move from Flagstaff to Sequim, Joe Donaldson, then mayor of Flagstaff presented the key to the city to Mr. van Renterghem and his family and, proclaimed a day in his honor (Aug. 13, 2005), saying Mr. van Renterghem "... exhibited selfless devotion to the cause of social justice and has been an inspiration to his peers." On his 90th birthday a few weeks ago, he received birthday greetings from Miep Gies, the woman who helped hide the Anne Frank family during World War II. Mr. van Renterghem's greatest love was his family and his work. His humor, honesty and enormous intellect was obvious to everyone who knew him, and he will be missed more than words can convey. He is survived by his wife, Susanne, and their son, Pablo. |
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