Intently and earnestly, Brother de Jager quoted the
thought that he called “my Liahona”: “I shall pass through this world but
once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show
to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not neglect it for I shall
not pass this way again.” He smiled, a joyous smile, “That is strongly
written in me.”
Born in The Hague, he was the first man of his nation
called to be a General Authority. He served with love and kindness
as counselor in the elders quorum presidency in Toronto; as Sunday School
superintendent in Mexico City; as branch president in Nijmegen, the Netherlands;
as a counselor in the presidency of the Netherlands Mission; and as Regional
Representative to the Netherlands, Spain, and France. Remarkably international
in his background and experience, his fluency in four languages he called
a “gift,” but he developed it with hard study during almost two years of
hiding from labor conscription during World War II.
About that last assignment, he quoted Alma 29:8,
“The Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue,
to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should
have,” then added his personal testimony: “I studied that
scripture and prayed about it and I know why I was called to be a Regional
Representative.” He tells of meeting with the small priesthood class in
Barcelona and telling those new members: “You are now in the school of
the prophets and I am their messenger.”
Elder de Jager described his family as “international”—a
modest understatement. In Indonesia, “10,000 miles from home,” he met and
married his wife, Bea Lim, who was Dutch-Chinese. Their son Robert Michael
was born in Java and was the first missionary called to the new Djakarta
Indonesia Mission in June 1975. Their daughter Audrey Inez was born in Toronto.
“My wife,” he said emphatically on the occasion of his
call to The First Quorum of Seventy, “gives me 100 percent
support. We haven’t had a vacation as a family in ten years but our compensation
was that the children had opportunities to meet such wonderful people in
the Church and that we were always united through our prayers.”
In his patriarchal blessing, given in Mesa, Arizona,
while they were living in Mexico, “the Lord revealed to me that my wife
had been given to me as a companion to be helpful in building the kingdom
and that I had known her and loved her in the
preexistence.” His eyes crinkled, “And it’s very unusual to have that
in writing.”
He had unstinting praise also for his former company,
Philips Electronics. (He was sales vice-president of a large incandescent
lamp factory.) Because of it, he has traveled all over the world with opportunities
on every continent for missionary work. When conference assignments ate
up his vacation time, they granted him a few more days here and there—“thirty
days of paid vacation in 1975,” he marveled. They telephoned “full understanding,
great admiration, and congratulations” when he telegraphed his resignation
Saturday afternoon.
He left, his long stride devouring the distance to
his next appointment, leaving behind a firm handshake, a warm smile, and
a great exit line: “See you in church!”
================================================
Elder de Jager served in the First Quorum of the Seventy
for over seventeen years before being granted emeritus status on October 2,
1993.
He was known to his associates among the Brethren as "the happy Dutchman," a description he applied to himself in April 1976 in his first general conference address. Now, Elder Jacob de Jager, emeritus General Authority since October 1993, is spreading the glad news of the gospel in the hereafter, an assurance affirmed by speakers at his funeral in Salt Lake City March 1, 2004.
Elder de Jager, 81, died at home Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004, after a full life that included tireless service as a regional representative, then as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and, after receiving emeritus status, bishop of the Canyon Road Ward in Salt Lake City.
Presidents Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust, first and second counselors in the First Presidency, were speakers at the funeral, as was President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, and Elder Charles Didier of the Presidency of the Seventy. Audrey de Jager Poulson, daughter, delivered a eulogy.
"I've never met a person who said a bad word about Jacob de Jager," President Monson said. "It didn't matter what the subject, every time you asked about Jacob de Jager, you got a smile."
