Bart Flaat (1937-2025)
Born in Makassar (Indonesia),
on December 14, 1937.
Religious vows on September 8, 1958.
Ordained priest on August 4, 1963.
Missionary in Guatemala, the United States and the Netherlands.
Died in Oosterhout (Netherlands),
on February 18, 2025,
at the age of 87.
Bart, the second youngest in a family of eight children, was born on December 14, 1937 in Makassar, in the former Dutch East Indies. The Flaat family had a good relationship with the CICM (Scheut) missionaries who worked there. That bond remained, even when they returned to the Netherlands after the war.
It is therefore not surprising that Bart ended up at the Sparrendaal Missionary College, run by the Scheut Fathers. After all, he wanted to become a missionary. After his training to become a priest in Nijmegen, and then in Leuven, his long-cherished dream came true and he was ordained on August 4, 1963.
After 4 years of missionary animation in the Netherlands, he was allowed to leave for his mission in Guatemala. He learned Spanish and quickly felt at home in the Latin culture. He was given a remote post with its own school with 300 pupils. It was quite a job to keep it financially afloat. But he succeeded.
Bart's organizational talent
had not gone unnoticed by his superiors,
and after three years he was asked to come to Texas
to work among Spanish-speaking immigrants.
That became his life's work,
and he spent the best years
of his missionary life there.
Bart continued to work in the United States until 2002, and provided excellent service in various parishes.
Back in the Netherlands, Bart retired to his familiar Sparrendaal in Vught. Bart's organizational talent came in handy again when he moved from Vught to Teteringen.
In recent years, Bart's health had visibly deteriorated. Because 24-hour care was needed, Bart was admitted to a care center in Buurstede. Having to give up so much so suddenly was hard for him, although he was also grateful for the care and attention he received there. In recent months, Bart began to long for the end. A long time ago, the whole group of us visited him and we solemnly served him his meal. That did him good and gave him the strength to stay with us until after his 87th birthday. We made a party of that too. Since then, his condition deteriorated rapidly.
Bart passed away peacefully on February 18, 2025. May he now find peace and rest in God's presence.
- Joep van Gaalen
