Jean Michel Rutgers wandered around with a brain tumor for twelve years, but on the 17th of March 2018 in the hospice of Nijkerk he passed away.
Rutgers grew up in a small apartment in the north of Amsterdam with his two younger sisters Marieke and Rifka. Their father, Reint Rutgers, was already out of the picture since Rutgers was three years old. All three siblings went through tough times during their childhood due to the mental health issues of their mother Ada Overre. Rutgers, as the only man in the house, always took responsibility for his sisters.
As a kid, he was very adventurous. At the age of six, he crawled into the sewers alone and came home after that, covered in poop.
Rood-Wit A, the football club of Northern Amsterdam, was were young Rutgers played soccer – the sport he continued to be passionate about his whole life.
When he graduated from high school, he started studying Economics and Management in the center of Amsterdam. Soon after that, he put his skills into practice and started at the ABN AMRO Bank with project managing.
In the nineties, Rutgers obtained his PhD and he worked as a project manager at Getronics, for which he lived in Boston for a year. During his last months, he often admitted that he had the time of his life that year.
After Getronics, Rutgers started his own company, ADA-Project Management & Training. Rutgers got booked for substantial projects: ING Bank, Gemeente Amsterdam, internet agency Lost Boys, Gemeente Almere and several others. He also started to give trainings in the field of project management.
On a solo vacation for singles in Tuscany, Rutgers met his future wife Dorothea Van Dammen from Zwolle. At that time, Rutgers lived in a new apartment on KNSM island with a splendid view on the IJ river. He did not want to leave his city yet, but he and Dorothea moved to Amersfoort, a city in-between Amsterdam and Zwolle, as a compromise.
Just a few months after the birth of their first son Mathan in 2006, Rutgers got diagnosed with brain cancer. He was so passionate about his work, that after the shocking news, brain surgery and a trip to Canada, he soon continued working again. Yet, bad news still lurked around the corner.
And indeed, six months later, a new brain tumor got discovered – one that could not be removed.
But life continued.
During a calm period, his second son Joah was born in 2009. A year after that, he got difficulties with his health again, thus he started to focus more on his self-developed trainings with which he helped people get their International Project Management Association B certificate.
Rutgers’ professional partner and great friend was Norbert Van Hengstum, they closely worked together, and Van Hengstum took over Rutgers’ projects when he got ill.
In the summer of 2017, Rutgers tumor steadily deteriorated. He got told that treatment was no option anymore, so he moved to the hospice of Nijkerk, leaving his family.
However, Rutgers kept searching for solutions and he held hope. Even in the hospice, he was determined to continue his trainings. Rutgers’ wife had to convince Rutgers to let Van Hengstum take over his last trainee.
In the end, Rutgers stayed for over seven months in the hospice. On a Saturday night, Rutgers left behind his wife, his two sons Mathan and Joah, and many close family members and friends – over a 150 people filled the church on his funeral.
Rochelle Villani 