John Mathieu Alexandre Boosten

John Mathieu Alexandre Boosten, husband, father, grandfather and friend died July 21, 2011.

John was born to Alexander and Anna Boosten April 10, 1923 in Maastricht, Netherlands. He was the third of five children. As a young man, he served in the Dutch resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of Holland during World War II after escaping from a German concentration camp. The Boosten family served in an underground resistance network that provided shelter for Jewish families being sought by the Gestapo. John also served in the Ninth Army American Troop. In 1945, he was wounded in Germany. John and Sibella Hamers were married Oct. 17, 1953 and had one daughter, Silvia. In 1960, the family moved to the United States.

John worked as a senior mechanical engineer for PG&E. In 1981, John became a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 144 in San Francisco. His greatest joy however, was when his granddaughter Natalie was born in 1987. He loved spending time with her.

On the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Holland from the Nazi occupation (1995), the queen of Holland awarded John with a special distinction for his bravery in a ceremony in San Francisco. John was also a Shriner, and made many visits to the Shriners Children’s Hospital. He exemplified a lifetime commitment to always being on hand to helping others in need.

In 1997, Sibella Boosten was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and predeceased John by eight weeks on May 19, 2011.

"We miss you so much Papa, you were our best friend, our rock and loved us unconditionally. You and Mama will forever be in our hearts. We love you so very much. You are an angel. We will always carry your love and our happy memories of you in our heart.”