Catharina Elisabeth Okhuijsen (1916 - bef. 2005)

Born 29 Sep 1916 in Lisse, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

Ancestors

Biography

Catharina Elisabeth Okhuijsen is geboren in Zuid-Holland na 1811

Catharina Elisabeth's profile is a Dutch Roots Challenge Profile

Family

Catharina Elisabeth Okhuijsen was born on September 29, 1916 in Lisse, South Holland, Netherlands.^[1]. Her parents were Johannes Willebrordus Okhuijsen and Cornelia Maria Hogervorst.

Marriage

It is very likely that she married Felix Balthazar Anna Lebouille based on the following facts:

• She is called 'Mrs. de Boeie-Okhuysen' in the documentary "Weg naar de Vrijheid, Meer dan 1080" ^[2].
• The obituary for Maria Jozefa Koonen (mother of Felix) is mentioning 'Felix Lebouille - Ockhuysen en kinderen from Briis sous Forges ^[3].
• On the official website of SGA (Secrétariat Général pour l'Administration), she is mentioned as "Autre(s) nom(s) : LE BOUILLE" (Other names: Le Bouille) ^[4].

Dutch-Paris Resistance

During WWII Catharina was a member of the Dutch-Paris resistance line. Their main mission was to rescue people from the Nazis by hiding them or taking them to neutral countries. They also served as a clandestine courier service. Dutch-Paris was a transnational resistance network composed of over 330 men, women and teenagers living in occupied France, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as neutral Switzerland. Between 1942 and 1944 they rescued approximately 1,000 people from the Nazis, mostly Jews, resisters, labor draft evaders and downed Allied aviators. They supported some of these people in hiding and smuggled others into neutral Switzerland or Spain. Dutch-Paris also acted as a clandestine courier service throughout western Europe for the Dutch government-in-exile, other resistance groups, churches and families. Dutch-Paris claimed no national, political or religious affiliation.

Catharine's parents were expatriates running a farm about 40 kilometers south of Paris, and she was working as a secretary in Paris. Friend of Gabrielle Weidner, sister of Jean Weidner (leader of the Dutch-Paris line), she agreed to act as a private "bureau de change" for the refugees, exchanging Belgian francs for French ones (supplied by Weidner). With others she also was organizing the transfer of fugitives to Toulouse, the next stop in their road to freedom, and also acting as a courier, getting messages to Toulouse. Fugitives and resisters alike knew her fondly as "Oky".

Catharina was decorated in the Kanselarij der Nederlandse Orden, somewhere before 1994 ^[5].

Death

It is likely that she already passed away. Based on known information, somewhere in France. This is based on the following facts:

• If you are decorated in the Kanselarij der Nederlandse Orden and were still alive in 2005, you cannot be found in their database ^[6].
• She would be around 105 years old by now, which is possible, but not very likely.
• At the online archive of California we find the Partial Inventory of the John Henry Weidner papers. Catharina can be found in Box/Folder 22 : 11 Okhuysen-Lebouille, Catherine E. 1943-1983 and undated, this might b e an indication on when she died ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken Geboorteakten 1916, aktenummer 172 Gemeente: Lisse Periode: 1916
2. ↑ documentary "Weg naar de Vrijheid, Meer dan 1080" from Dick Verkijk by the VPRO
3. ↑ Obituary for Maria Jozefa Koonen Limburgsch dagblad from 09-07-1949 - Uitgeversmaatschappij Limburgs Dagblad - Sociaal Historisch centrum voor Limburg T 501
4. ↑ Accueil - Memoire des hommes Accueil Available at: Memoire des hommes (2021) (Accessed: 7 May 2021).
5. ↑ Kanselarij der Nederlandse Orden: Index gedecoreerden,Last name: Lebouille (Accessed: 8 May 2021).
6. ↑ Kanselarij der Nederlandse Orden: Index gedecoreerden,explanation on scans (Accessed: 8 May 2021).
7. ↑ Online archive of California Partial Inventory of the John Henry Weidner papers (Accessed: 8 May 2021).

Also see

• https://books.google.nl/books?id=ZnhUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%22Catherine+Okhuysen%22+paris&source=bl&ots=hldhqZKlbB&sig=ACfU3U3C5ij8YrJvYLbJ52BsyPWdyytWEQ&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjO_tbkl7LwAhWjPOwKHQvfBZoQ6AEwAnoECAEQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Catherine%20Okhuysen%22%20paris&f=false
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch-Paris
• https://www.anderetijden.nl/aflevering/682/Ontsnappingsroute-in-de-oorlog
• https://www.geneafrance.com/france/mplf/?mplf=333495
• http://dutchparisblog.com/