GRANBURY — Leo van Amerongen, passed away Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014 on his 85th birthday.
Funeral: 11:00 a.m. Monday at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Granbury.
Leo was born Dec. 30, 1929, in Simpelveld, Holland, to Eef van Amerongen and Gertud Johanna van Amerongen (nee Lerschen), Leo emigrated by boat to the United States in 1948.
He graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He was drafted into the US Army in 1951 and served during the Korean War.
He married Mary Czerniawski in New York in 1957. They lived in Louisiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana and Germany, before settling north of Manhattan in Croton-on-Hudson, NY where they lived for many years and raised their three daughters.
Leo was employed as a Project Manager and was also a licensed professional engineer. He worked for Westinghouse and Ebasco, among others. For a number of years, his office was located in Number 2 World Trade Center. Along with work in New York, his career took him to many projects all over the world including work in Argentina, Chile, Spain, China, Russia and Mexico. His last project prior to retirement was engineering a new PATH train station after it had been destroyed during the September 11, 2001 attacks. He relocated to Granbury in 2005.
Leo had a great love of travel and the food, wine, art, music and culture of other countries and was fluent in five languages. He adventured all over the world, including Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, Egypt, and Indonesia, and he returned to Holland many times. He was an active member of the South American Explorers Club. Leo also enjoyed hiking, especially the Appalachian Trail, gardening, cooking, carpentry, and sharing stories and wisecracks over a bottle of Dutch beer and cheese.
He is survived by his wife Mary van Amerongen, his daughters; Elizabeth van Amerongen of Baltimore, MD, Jeanne Rodgers and her spouse Rick Rodgers of Granbury, TX and Julie van Amerongen and her spouse Matt Butler, of Portland, OR, four grandchildren; Rachael Rodgers and Glenn Rodgers of Granbury, TX and Shealan van Butler and Calliope van Butler of Portland, OR; and brother Edward van Amerongen of Hypoluxo, FL.
