It is with regret that we inform you of the death at around 6 PM, Thursday 19th June 2025, in nursing home Hof van De Bilt (Formerly Fraterhuis), De Bilt, Netherlands, at the age of 89 of
Father Cornelis Jacobus Maria (Kees) Vlaming
Mill Hill Missionary
May he rest in peace
Kees was born on 11 July 1935 in Medemblik in a family with 3 brothers and 8 sisters. His father was an architect.
At the age of thirteen, Kees, whose uncle was Mill Hiller, went to the minor seminary in Hoorn, and four years later he continued his studies in Haelen. After studying Philosophy in Roosendaal and Theology in Mill Hill, Kees was ordained by Cardinal William Godfrey on 9 July 1961.
To his regret, Kees was not immediately appointed to the mission, but became a teacher in Haelen for a period of five years. A period of which he said afterwards that this was a good time that laid the foundation for his later missionary work.
In 1967, Kees was finally allowed to go to the mission. A difficult post in the newly independent Congo-Kinshasa where five years of civil war had just ended. In those five years, the Mill Hill Missionaries had left. Much had been destroyed and had to be rebuilt. There was a shortage of everything. Due to the lack of medical facilities, many people came to the mission when they were sick and asked for help. Kees arranged that help as best he could, without any medical background. In addition to his pastoral tasks in Yamboyo, Kees built up a medical practice in the Bongando region. After completing the Medical Tropical Course in Rotterdam, Kees also ventured into dental care.
In 1997, the year that the country that had been called Zaire since 1971 was renamed “The Democratic Republic of Congo”, Kees returned to the Netherlands for good. He was appointed pastor of the parishes in Zwaagdijk, Gorinchem, Papendrecht, Alblasserdam and Sliedrecht. He was the vicar of the Land van Giessen en Linge for twelve years until mid-2011, after which Kees finally retired.
Kees was a hard and dedicated worker and a true missionary who always had an eye for the weak and a kind word for those around him. In recent years he lived in the care/nursing home Hof van De Bilt (formerly Fraterhuis) in De Bilt, where he initially regularly led services. However, due to his rapidly deteriorating mental and physical health, this had not been possible for some time.
