Alida Gezina van der Burg

Ali van der Burg, of Chatham and Brewster, passed away peacefully at Maplewood on Tuesday, January 2 at the age of 94. Born in Enschede, the Netherlands on November 23, 1929, to her parents Gaike and Anna Dalenoord, Ali grew up during the World War II occupation of the Netherlands where her father was part of the Dutch resistance. She attended the University of Amsterdam, when she met and married Sjirk van der Burg. Shortly after the birth of their first child in 1956, they moved to Caldwell, NJ where she and Sjirk had two additional children. In 1961 the family moved to Grosse Pointe, MI where she was part of the Junior League in Detroit. In 1966 the family moved once again this time to Aachen, Germany, and lived there for 5 years. In 1971 Ali and Sjirk along with their children moved to Liege, Belgium. Ali was appointed as a member of the School Committee of the International School of Liege. She volunteered at Cristalleria du Val-Saint Lambert where she coordinated a group of volunteers to prepare and catalog a collection of royal crystal for auction.. While living overseas the family traveled extensively throughout Europe. In 1980 Ali and Sjirk moved to Snitterfield, England. Ali did volunteer work at Stratford Upon Avon’s Library including teaching reading to adults. Ali also qualified as a tour guide where her fluency in four languages (Dutch, English, French, and German) was useful. Finally, in 1988 the couple moved to Chatham, MA. Ali served on various committees in Chatham including the HBDC, and received an award from the town in recognition of her long and distinguished services in 2019.

She is survived by her three children, Anna and her husband Andrew Saslow, of Cheshire CT, and their sons Nathaniel and Jacob; Linso and his wife Joanne, of Salem, MA, and their children Anne Therese, Sierck, Alfred and Alida and Mimi van der Burg, of Harwich, MA and her children Maxwell, Noah and Josh Rosen and 7 great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband Sjirk in 2005, and her brothers Herman and Bernard.

A celebration of her extraordinary life will be held this summer.