Hans VAN ESS Obituary

VAN ESS, Hans. Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Ju-Jitsu Hans passed 27 November 2024, age 88. Loved and loving husband of the late Ruth; father of Hans, Kevin and Tina; adoring Opa of Aniwa, Nikau, Blake and Brant. A service for Hans will be held at the Birkenhead RSA, Recreation Drive, Birkenhead on Monday 2 December 2024 at 10.30am, and he will be buried with Ruth and Aniwa the next day in Pirongia at 1pm.

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Published by The New Zealand Herald on Nov. 30, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Hans VAN ESS

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5 Entries

Sharon Webber

March 21, 2025

I met Hans some years ago and was very sad to learn of his passing. When I visited with him he made me pancakes and very strong coffee!
He will be missed.

Chris Palmer (President NZJJA)

December 2, 2024

It is with great sadness I have learnt that Han's has passed away. I will miss his phone calls and our catchups. Our Whangarei Jiu Jitsu club would not have been around for 40 years if it wasn't for Hans involvement with JJ in NZ. The NZJJA established in 1968 is still going and maintains the standards that Han's would expect. We have lost one of our Life Members of the NZJJA but we are so rich for having him in our lives. We have special memories of Hans and we will celebrate him tonight with 2 NZJJA gradings.

Jon Nicholson

December 2, 2024

He had an interesting life from the start in a Japanese internment camp with his mother in Indonesia to being a teacher of Japanese martial arts in New Zealand.
We learnt a lot from him.

Allan Eriksen

December 1, 2024

Hans was a character and provided me with many great memories

Oliver Nicholson

December 1, 2024

Good memories.

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Hans VAN ESS

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Hans VAN ESS Obituary

Memories and Condolences for Hans VAN ESS

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Memories and Condolences
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Memorial Events
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