The words my dad, Peter Vandenberg, will most rejoice to hear will come from his God and Savior and be, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Peter, Petros, Rock, my dad was steady and strong like a rock. He held firm and brought joy to us through life’s variable weather, both fair and foul.
Fair and Foul… this also is the handbook that guides soccer referees like himself. For Dad, Fair and Foul went beyond the soccer pitch. Fair and Foul applies to all of life. Some things are clearly good, right, and true. Some things are clearly bad, wrong, and false.
I was certainly fortunate to have Peter Vandenberg as my father and to be able to share so much of my life together with him.
Those who know Peter Vandenberg know what a special and unique person he truly is.
Of course to begin, he was an excellent caretaker and provider. Dad took care of us through sometimes trying circumstances. He was a widower at age 37. Without my mother, dad was like a dad and a mom to me in many respects. In response to my being temperamentally shy and sensitive, my dad was often an encourager and consoler. He modeled so many good qualities: steadiness, courage, faith, goodness, generosity, kindness, honesty, temperance, intelligence, wisdom, enthusiasm, and many other virtuous and beautiful qualities. He easily gained my affection being of such a good nature. Dad was competitive, but also humble and modest. Dad was inquisitive about a great many things, both physical and spiritual. He liked to do experiments. Some of them backfired. Skinning a skunk comes to mind. But he appreciated the beauty of nature, whether they be birds, snakes, or insects. He loved music and sang songs to us before bedtime. He liked conversation and debate.
Dad was diligent and an enthusiastic worker. Dad would get up early, put in a long day of work, come home and do additional paperwork at the dining room table. I’d often be at that dining room table doing my homework while he made his various piles of papers, scribbling down notes and sorting them out. And of course his to-do lists. That’s one of many legacies he passed on to me.
Dad worked with energy and enthusiasm. I have a very strong impression from riding along in the car with him while he would have meetings or talk with customers on the car phone or car radio. While doing business his voice would increase in volume and intensity and become intensely clear and communicative with his customers and colleagues. He’d be dealing with details and always problem solving. That’s what he boiled the box business down to mostly—problem solving.
So Dad modeled effort, energy, intention, and constancy at work.
He sought genuine win-win as effective people do. He was very skilled and competent at work. He enjoyed helping people solve problems. He enjoyed the challenge of finding a good solution to a customer’s needs.
Dad did a good amount of work around the house as well. On a typical Saturday he might clean out and re-organize a cluttered garage while setting us kids to such chores as –picking up papers and bits of trash for the front yard or back yard, sweeping a patio, dumping the trash, doing dishes, folding laundry, or maybe washing the dog, or for me later on, cleaning the pool.
These tasks weren’t burdensome or odious to me. They were a part of learning to be responsible and useful.
Dad also cooked. He’d make a big batch of bean burritos and put them in the freezer. Later we could re-heat them in the microwave.
Peter Vandenberg was civic minded. I remember him whistling at speeding cars and motorcycles trying to get them to slow down on Pinecrest Drive, until finally speed bumps were put in. He supported the petition to have the speed bumps put in. His concern naturally, was our safety.
He supported the American Youth Soccer Organization, also known as AYSO, as a volunteer referee. Most, if not all of us, participated as players. His grandchildren, including Miles, Merrigan, and Eunice have grown up playing AYSO soccer as well. Of course his son Bill Vandenberg has been a hockey referee for many years. Being a referee meant being fair and impartial, not hesitating to call a foul on any of his children if it were merited. I like to chalk it up to Dutch egalitarianism. AYSO has this democratic spirit in that “everyone plays” a fairly equal amount of playing time.
Dad passed on many of his various interests—tennis, swimming, hiking, soccer, travel, pets, reading, word games, cards, and puzzles.
Dad used to make a Christmas scavenger hunt each year and have a large family gift at the end of it—perhaps an air hockey table, or a ping pong table. Dad’s gift to me of a portable chess computer from Radio Shack helped ignite a passion in me for the royal game.
With Dad we’ve taken trips to ball games, the beach, the mountains, and Disneyland. Dad took ten of us to Hawaii. (Yes, a very Brady vacation for as very Brady family, you might say.) We also stayed on a houseboat on the Colorado River.
Dad has helped many teeth to be straightened with the assistance of orthodontics, but not his own. Dad gave without asking for himself. He shared messages and ideas without it being about him. Dad made his views known without having to be overbearing.
One of his tools for sharing God’s word was Silent Witness, which was simply a collection of Bible verses, one per card, the size and shape of a business card unobtrusively displayed.
We all miss him greatly, but have and keep this hope of seeing him again on the other side of this life.
(Added note: Dad worked for Container Corporation of America, but I cannot contain all the meaning and love I feel and have for Dad.)
Thank you very much.
John Vandenberg
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