Farewell to Harry
This afternoon Jonathan Marks and I attended the funeral of Harry van Gelder. It was a beautiful service, with alternating five minute addresses and music - exactly like an edition of DX Jukebox! And that's no coincidence. Harry's son Chris told the congregation that Harry himself had insisted on making all the arrangements for his own funeral, selecting his favourite music - the choir of King's College Chapel in Cambridge never sounded sweeter - and even, when he knew the end was close, changing into the clothes he wanted to wear, and telling his family "I want to die with my teeth in."
How typical of dear Harry, a man with a great sense of humour, even managing to raise some smiles at his own funeral! No wonder he was so loved by his family and those he worked with. I never met Harry when he was alive, but today I understood better than ever before just what an exceptional man he was - and the closest thing The Netherlands will ever have to a true English gentleman, both in his demeanour and his appearance. He even made the family speak English at home!
I asked one of Harry's sons how he imagined Harry would have embraced new technology such as the Internet if it had been around in his day, and received the answer I expected: "He'd have loved it."
BTW I found time after the funeral service for a chat with Tom Meyer, former presenter of Happy Station. Tom will be 65 next birthday, and looks great! He says he has been busier than ever since leaving Radio Netherlands, doing all sorts of things, including charity work.
7:22:32 PM 
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