Obituary of Willem M. Boers

Willem M. (Bill) Boers Willem M. (Bill) Boers, 73, died on November 2, 2010 at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, after a heroic 6 year struggle with melanoma. Born in Singapore on August 31, 1937, he was the Dutch son of the late Willem C. and Liesje Boers-Swart. During WWII, Bill was a prisoner of the Japanese in the former Dutch East Indies for three years. After the War, his mother and brother went back to the Netherlands. In 1963, he immigrated to the United States and settled in the Hudson Valley. Bill was an experienced field hockey player; in 1970, after becoming a U.S. citizen, he was selected to play for the U.S. Olympic Field Hockey Team in the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. After, he served for four years as a member of the Olympic Selection Committee. He also served as Vice President of the Field Hockey Association of America; soon after he became an International Field Hockey Umpire. Bill was Past President of the Westchester Field Hockey Club and a member of the Privateers Hockey Club. Bill worked for IBM in Poughkeepsie for 30 years before retiring in 1994. He was a member of the Hudson Valley Ski Club and Southern Dutchess Country Club. In 1996, Bill married Barbara DeMarco; Mrs. Boers survives at home. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his two step children; Robert Kimbark and his significant other, Kelly Dewall of Glens Falls, and Melissa Drake and her fianc�, Len Audette of Marlboro; his brother Tjeerd Boers and his wife Marijke, of Madrid, Spain; two beloved grandchildren, Haley and Matthew Drake, both of Marlboro; and several nieces and nephews. Bill's family would like to extend a sincere thank you to Dr. Anna Pavlick and her entire team at NYU who treated Bill for many years with superb care and compassion, and for giving him and his family eternal hope; to Dr. Warshawsky at MKMG for his unending support and concern for Bill throughout his many surgeries and treatments; and to the caring staff on the Neurological Floor at Vassar Brothers and the wonderful Hospice care he was provided there over the last week - thank you. Family will receive their friends on Friday, November 5, 2010 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Straub, Catalano & Halvey Funeral Home, 55 E. Main Street, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590. A funeral service will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Interment of his cremains will be private and at the convenience of his family. For directions to the funeral home or to send the family a personal condolence, please visit out website at www.StraubCatalanoHalvey.com.