Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt.
St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 19 October 2019 No. 937
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Dear Friends,
Here is the story on the
seminarian and classmate Peter Draaibas / Ignatius Draaibas.
-----------------------------------------
idmitch@anguillanet.com
Fri, 30 Aug, 18:23
Thanks,
Jan,
Do you by
any chance have a copy of Draaibas’ photograph at a higher resolution for
Ladislao to be able to include possibly in a Circular?
Best,
Don
----------------------------------------------------
From: Jan Koenraadt <jankoenraadt@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday,
30 August 2019 17:40
Dear Nigel
and others,
Thank you
for this speedy inquiry about Ignatius Draaibas.
Amazing
that Peter Gittens is there and remembers him as Iggy from before 1956.
Between
1954 and 1958 my brother Gerard was also at the small seminary and my brother
Thijs between 1956 and 1960.
Ignatius
visited my parents and my two brothers at home in Suriname somewhere around
1960 before he left to the Netherlands to continue his studies to become a
priest.
I was
still a little boy then 9-10 years old.
I got a
reply from his daughter, that he was indeed an old seminarist of the small
seminary of Mount St. Benedict.
After two
years on a trip to Switzerland he met Lucie also from Suriname and later they
got married and had two daughters.
Later he
was appointed Deacon for the Diocese of Utrecht in the Netherlands and for de
Surinam community in Amsterdam.
He
deceased in 2014 when he was 81 years!
After
spoiling his five grandchildren when they came for lunch to him during school
time for some years!
At the end
he had a chance to visit Suriname again with his daughters to enjoy it all.
He came
from a village Bigi Poika in the interior of Suriname and stayed with foster
parents in Paramaribo for school.
They sent
him to Mount St. Benedict.
The church
in Suriname must have had high hopes of him because he would have been the
first priest of Surinam origin.
Because
the next native priest after him, Mgr. Aloysius Zichem, was appointed bishop of
Surinam in 1970 when he was 37 years.
Ignatius
Draaibas is his civilian name, Peter Dribas could possibly be him, but that the
name was wrongly retrieved from faded memory?
Or it is
indeed a second person.
His
obituary is on internet, but it is in Dutch
My parents
had a prayer card from him when he left Surinam to go to the Netherlands in
1960.
That was
the only thing I had of him.
I attach
it to this email with his picture.
The oldest
database I have is from December 31, 2012.
If there
is a more recent version, I would be very obliged to receive it with many
thanks.
Much
greetings and be well
Jan
Koenraadt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Op
29-8-2019 om 19:25
schreef
Peter Gittens:
Gentlemen,
Thanks for
the efforts on filling-in-the-blanks on Ignatius Draaibas.
One small
point that I dispute is the year that “Iggy” (as we called him) came to MSB.
It was
before 1956, not 1958.
I know
this for a fact, because when I came to MSB minor Seminary in January 1956,
Ignatius was already there, and he was one of the first people I met and to got
to know very well; we were very close until he left for Holland perhaps in 1958
or thereabouts.
Anyway,
just a FYI note.
Peter.
---------------------------------------------------------------------.
On Aug
29, 2019, at 12:01 PM,
Nigel
Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com> wrote:
Don,
Thanks for
this note.
I was
unaware that Shis had taken over control of the MSB dB, and you’re so right.
Instead of
referring any notes I might have on the matter to Kaz, and with all due respect
to him for his agreement to take over control of the dB after I could no longer
do it, I’ll now instead refer these notes to Shis, ‘cos he’s de man!
So, Shis -
here’s the dope:
In 1958 or
thereabouts, Peter Dribas came from Surinam to the monastery at MSB as a “late
vocation” and was housed in the section of the monastery which we later called
the “Major Seminary”.
He was
friendly with Gerard and Thijs Koenraadt, who were then Junior Seminarians at
the “Minor Seminary" within the monastery proper.
On his
assumption as a seminarian, he apparently took the name “Ignatius” in honour of
St. Ignatius (of Loyola? - founder of the Jesuits).
He
represented the Abbey School at football competitions, and his mighty right
foot could blast the ball from one goal-post right down-field to the opposing
goal.
He left
MSB and immigrated to the Netherlands where he perhaps joined another Dutch
monastery for a period of 1-2 years before the ceased his studies for the
priesthood and was married.
He had 2
daughters, who are now in touch with Jan Koenraadt in Holland.
Ignatius
became a Deacon for the Cathedral in Utrecht, and eventually he died in 2014.
Would you
please add these notes to the DataBase, since it seems that my efforts to do so
are bearing no fruit?
Thanks,
everyone.
Nigel
--------------------------------------------------------------
On Aug
29, 2019, at 10:36 AM,
<idmitch@anguillanet.com>
wrote:
Hi, Nigel,
I think you
may want to reach out to George.
You
delegated the database to Kazim about a year ago, and then Kazim delegated it
to George who volunteered some months ago.
George has
already circulated several updates, the last I believe dated 23 June.
Until you
resume control of the database, I will assume that George's is the definitive
version.
I'm sure
you don't want two, far less three, persons issuing independently updated
versions, as then you will never know if any of them is complete.
Best,
Don
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Sent:
Thursday, 29 August 2019 09:59
Gentlemen,
Thank you
for the many inputs you’ve sent me, as I try to solve the question of Peter
Draaibas.
I’m sure
that his two daughters will be thrilled to know that their dad was remembered
by so many of us.
I’ve
amended my version of the MSB dB to try to include your notes, and I include my
version here for anyone who would care to have a look:
--------------------------------------------------------------.
Jan Koenraadt <jankoenraadt@gmail.com>
30 Aug 2019, 18:27
I wish I
could Don, but I only pulled it from internet from this site
No others
appear.
If I get
any better ones and they permit me I will send you!
I just
typed his name in Google and got that. Don't know what you get if you try the
same.
Greetings
Jan
-----------------------------------------------------.
idmitch@anguillanet.com
30 Aug 2019, 18:56
I see what
you mean.
A Google
search did not produce anything better.
Ladislao
will just have to say sorry to the readers of the Circular.
-------------------------------------------------.
Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Wed, 28 Aug, 08:39
Hold on,
Jan.
Hold on.
I was just
about to add Ignatius’ name to the dB, when I found that I had, in fact, listed
a boy by the name of Peter Dribas, who had first gone to MSB in 1962, 2 years
after I’d left
I suppose
that he is the person you’re looking for, since my note also said that he was a
seminarian from Surinam.
I believe,
if you can track down his daughters, they should be able to provide you with
his correct name.
Of course,
the possibility exists, that his given (birth) name was actually Peter, but
that, when he joined the Benedictine Monastery at MSB, he took the name
“Ignatius”, a common enough action taken by most seminarians when they begin
their spiritual lives and vocations.
Nigel
--------------------------------------------------------------.
From: Nigel
Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Date:
August 28, 2019 at 8:29:28 AM EDT
Jan,
Thanks for
enquiring.
No. I do
not remember Ignatius at all.
Wish I
did.
However,
as a result of your enquiry, I’m going to add his name to my copy of the MSB
database.
I left MSB
in 1960 and have maintained merely a passing acquaintance with the monastery
and the Abbey School since that time.
Sorry that
I could not be of more help.
One
suggestion: Fr. Cuthbert maintained a complete listing of all the OB’s who EVER
attended the Abbey School. Perhaps Abbot John Pereira might be willing and able
to check Ignatius’ name for you, since Cutty isn’t around any longer.
Nigel
-------------------------------------------------------------------.
On Aug
27, 2019, at 4:08 PM,
Jan
Koenraadt <jankoenraadt@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear
Nigel,
Wanting to
ask a question.
I recently
came across the daughter of somebody who was a friend with my brothers Thijs
and Gerard at home in Surinam around 1960.
I was a
little boy then, but he was also studying at a seminary to become priest like
my two brothers.
In 1960 he
went from Surinam to Holland to follow the studies to become a priest.
At the
same time my brother Thijs went to Mount St. Benedict to join the monastery as
a novice.
This
friend was Ignatius Draaibas from Surinam.
When he
left, he came to say goodbye to our family and my parents.
After that
I never heard of him anymore.
Through
the internet I came in contact with his daughter, and she says he was a
seminarist at Mount St. Benedict too.
That I
didn't know, I thought he came from the catholic school in Surinam.
I looked
it up in de MSB database you made, but his name is not mentioned.
Can you
remember his name Ignatius Draaibas as an old MSB boy?
Now I
learned that he did study for priest in the Netherlands but quit after two
years and went to do something else.
Later he
got married and had two daughters Kwini and Kwita.
Later in
life he became a diaken for the church of Utrecht and for the Surinam community
in Amsterdam.
He
deceased in 2014.
But in
1994 he took his family to MSB to show them around.
Maybe his
name rings a bell for you?
Much
greetings
Jan
Koenraadt
------------------------------------------------------------------.
EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz, kertesz11@yahoo.com, if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list or
any old boy that you would like to include.
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Photos:
53UN0001FOOTBALL,
Igantius Draaibas
07LK8285FBRMA,
Robert Mac Lean
59CM0020CMA,
Christopher Marothy
60UN0001IDR,
Ignatius Draaibas card
