Remembering Jeroen Jongejans

Jeroen Jongejans lived 40 years on the Tutukaka Coast with 27 of those running Dive!Tutukaka with partner in life and work, Kate Malcolm. He originated from Sneek, a small town in the Netherlands coming to New Zealand in 1979.

JEROEN JONGEJANS, farewell 8^th July 1958 – 21^st February 2022

Jeroen's achievements for New Zealand diving and Northland tourism, include the following:  
·     Getting two Navy ships sunk as artificial reefs
·     Promoting full Marine Reserve status for the Poor Knights Islands
·     President of NZUA for four years, and life member
·     Leo Ducker Award recipient
·     Inducted into the Northland Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame
·     New Zealand Tourism Industry Champion

Dive! Tutukaka has been a finalist and award winner over 20 times including being named winner of the Northland Chamber of Commerce Supreme Award, the NZ Tourism Supreme Award and the PADI Asia South Pacific Supreme Diving Company Award.

Jeroen also served terms on the Board of Trustees at the Ngunguru School, the Tutukaka Resident and Ratepayer Association, Northland Tourism Development Group, Northland Sustainable Business Group, Northland Conservation Board, Northland Inc Board, and as a Whangarei District Councillor, and Councillor on the Whangarei District Council Tourism Trust, the Northland Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Industry Aotearoa, NZ Tourism Trust, Sustainable Seas National Challenge stakeholder panel, and as Patron of the Tutukaka Coastguard.

To remember Jeroen, Dive Pacific asked Kate to nominate divers who each might write a tribute. Here's what they said.

DAVE MORAN, Founder of Dive New Zealand and NZ dive legend

This is your LIFEDo what you LOVE and do it often.
Live your dream and SHARE your PASSION
Life is short.

These words are part of a A5 size Note that were behind the Dive Tutukaka front desk for many years, and is sure to be found in the amazing new dive facility that Jeroen and Kate designed and built to replace their original dive shop.

I first met Jeroen in my capacity as editor and owner of Dive New Zealand magazine back in the early1990’s. What immediately hit me was his PASSION for the Poor Knights Islands and the coastal areas around Tutukaka. We would have long discussions over the phone or a cup of coffee about ways of promoting the Knights as a world class diving destination, and how to protect the marine environment. His commitment to the welfare of the marine environment was undisputed.

He and Kate were the first New Zealand diving operators to book a stand at the massive Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) in the USA. This international trade show showcases the latest in diving gear and with Dive TRAVEL destinations a huge part of the Show.

Jeroen desperately wanted to put New Zealand on the international diving map. Dive New Zealand magazine joined forces with Dive Tutukaka; we did two Shows.

Watching Jeroen gesticulating, hands out of control! Not really. With his beaming smile and sparkling eyes, he had travel buyers in the palm of his hand. For me it was inspirational seeing his love of New Zealand and the Poor Knights being injected into visitors to the stand.

Kate as always was by his side gathering contact details. His PASSION was infectious. It was a heap of fun, Kate will agree, I’m sure.

Jeroen’s passion for promoting Northland Tourism has been recognized: An unrelenting ambassador for New Zealand tourism.

What really impressed and stunned me at the same time was his brain’s ability to conceptualize pictures of what he was planning. I recall being with him at the Devonport Navy base when he handed a token gold coin to a Naval officer when he bought the HMNZS Tui. We then went aboard and walked through the ship. It fascinated me with what he visualized in the future; we were already diving the wreck off Tutukaka!

It was the same for the HMNZS Waikato. He never outwardly showed the stresses that he knew were coming to successfully skuttle these two ships.

It was the same also with the new diving facility which now has the largest scuba cylinder in the world at its entrance! As we walked on the rough clay earth before the build started, he would say, “Dave, the reception is going to be here, cylinder filling and hire gear here, and of course heaps of classrooms for diver training. Plus, a dive pool and maybe even a spa over there! Dave, once we sort that out, we will build a five-star accommodation block out the back”. I was thinking, really?
The total picture was imbedded in his mind.

As we all know, his picture has come to fruition. Kate’s hand was there all the while. Her dedication to fine details in these buildings is amazing, including the artwork and pictures decorating the walls. The high staff standards and meticulous procedures to ensure customers/divers experience world class service has Kate’s touch. The staff are amazing! Simply, Jeroen and Kate made an outstanding partnership.

I will miss his cheeky grin and him saying, “Let’s grab a coffee Dave, I have something to discuss”. It will take a long time when visiting Tuts, not to feel sad at his untimely passing. But Kate’s smile will lift my spirits as it always does. Keep smiling Kate. God bless you both.
Live your dream and SHARE your PASSION
As we all know Jeroen lived 100% by those words.

SIMON MITCHELL, Professor of Anesthesia, University of Auckland

If I was challenged to sum up Jeroen Jongejans (JJ) in one word, I would first complain that one word was simply not enough and then choose ‘visionary’.
I remember a conversation JJ and I had decades ago about what he thought he could do with his fledgling company at Tutukaka; about his vision of what it would ultimately become. What he told me then with typical JJ confidence was not much different to what it has actually become, but back all those years ago I thought he was bonkers. Me, thinking no way, too small, too isolated, not enough divers; the glass half empty typical conservative physician. However, in hindsight, I now know I was in the company of a master tactician possessed of boundless energy, keen intellect, and ambition balanced by truly wonderful humanity.

Piece by piece he put it together (though not alone, as I will return to below). Over the subsequent years during those quintessentially JJ chat-over-a-wine-at-Schnapper-Rock conversations, he would tell me what was coming next, to varying degrees of scepticism on my part. A first boat – tick, second boat - tick, turn the Knights into a full no-take reserve – tick, a third boat – tick, a shop – tick, a fleet of boats – tick, a really BIG boat for snorkellers (I definitely thought that wouldn’t work) – big tick, an even bigger shop and training facility – tick, high class accommodation – tick. I could go on but you get the picture.

What a journey that has been! JJ had help of course, and no account of his amazing achievements can be separated from the equally amazing contribution by Kate. If ever there was a perfect embodiment of complementary skills its Kate and JJ, and no matter how big and successful the business became, they stayed hands on, visible, and influential in everything D!T does. I was, and remain, so proud of them; referring all manner of my visiting friends and colleagues with carefree confidence that JJ, Kate and their consistently professional and ultra-friendly team would provide a serious wow-factor experience to be raved about for ages. They never let me down, ever.

It was my honour to be JJ’s friend, and my good fortune to learn some valuable life lessons from him. I was, and remain, devastated by the untimely death of this influential, starbright man, but I must end on the positive note JJ would want.

There is a generation of divers who have had the dive of their lives in a beautiful fantasy world that he helped preserve, and a generation of Northland children in love with its wonders through JJ and Kate’s generosity. There are Northland business owners who had their start with D!T and who are now running their own highly successful ventures, and all of this is still there for all of us as we dive into the future. What a legacy!

MICHAEL DAVIS, former Medical Director, Hyperbaric Medicine Unit, Christchurch Hospital

I knew Jeroen for about a quarter century. Though I live in the South Island and only visited Tuts a few times a year to dive with Dive!Tutukaka, we almost always got together, however busy he was. With his mischievous grin, a challenging conversationalist, never afraid to pull my leg (the polio one, of course!), I always looked forward to catching up with him. We dived together a few times over the years, including one memorable tiki tour of HMNZS Waikato in brilliant visibility, during which we seemed to cover just about every inch of the wreck at a great rate of knots! He and Kate were always incredibly hospitable to me and delightful company.
There was a serious side to our interactions. Most importantly, he gave permission for me to have complete access to Dive!Tutukaka’s huge databases − potentially highly sensitive commercially − so that I could analyse and report on the health and safety aspects of the operations of New Zealand’s largest diving enterprise. This work resulted in two publications in the medical literature, co-authored with Kate Malcolm, his partner in life and the company’s manager. He also allowed other medical research (by Dr Greg van der Hulst) looking at the health status of the diving staff. This work, which required cooperation willingly given by the company’s divers, also resulted in a successful publication. Such openness in a commercial enterprise is unusual and a reflection of Jeroen’s enquiring mind. Few businessmen would have had the same courage and I was honoured by the trust he placed in me in doing so, but that was typical of Jeroen!

I did not have any direct knowledge of his hard work over many years to promote Northland, though its fruits were obvious to a regular visitor like me. I know he ruffled some people’s feathers in the process, but one does not achieve progress without that happening; I’m sure that mischievous grin was never far away.

I’m finding it hard to think about Jeroen without including Kate. They were such an amazing partnership, both in life and in creating a superb company in Dive!Tutukaka. I had a 55-year diving career all over the world with many diving enterprises – Dive!Tutukaka was my gold standard; few reached Jeroen’s and Kate’s exacting standards.

Jeroen, it was a privilege and a pleasure to have known you.