Jos VROEGOP Obituary

A twinkle in his eye.
A smile and a hello for everyone.
A seriously enviable shock of hair.
A determination to live well with Parkinson´s and to be open about the challenges.

This is how I will remember Jos.

I lead the CeleBRation Choir, a social and therapeutic singing group at the University of Auckland´s Centre for Brain Research. Choir members are people living with Parkinson´s or other neurological conditions. We know that singing can help with the voice symptoms of Parkinson´s - helping to maintain speech clarity, loudness, and deep breathing. Sharing music also brings people together. Jos had many friends in the choir, and he encouraged friends from the gym and from the Parkinson´s group to give singing a go.

Jos enjoyed the weekly choir sessions, putting up with our shifts between university campuses and community halls. He enjoyed our Christmas parties, our performances in retirement villages and care homes, and opportunities to sing at a Parkinson´s conference and on the Town Hall stage. During the pandemic lockdowns we sang online, always with a view of Viv´s wonderful flower garden.

Jos kept up his singing during the week. When I visited him at home, he was in the middle of a one-man Spotify karaoke session, with the lyrics scrolling on his smart TV.

Jos took part in university research, contributing to our understanding of how singing can help. Recently he enthusiastically agreed to be interviewed for an article in the Seniors newsletter, produced by the Ministry of Social Development.

One day, a few years ago, there was mumbling in the choir - too many exercises, not enough songs! Jos summed it up: "We just want to sing!" Fair enough, I thought. We all want to sing ... but those exercises are important!
My response was to write a song - dedicated to Jos - beginning with the lyrics:
"We don´t want no exercises, exercises, exercises!
"We don´t want no exercises, we just wanna sing!"
It´s a fun song, with harmony, clapping, and stroppy words that encourage loud voices. And I snuck in many elements of the exercises - long notes, a wide vocal range, word rhythms, and nonsense words to practise vowels and consonants. It was win win - a real song, but a song I describe as "exercises by stealth"!
Jos always had that twinkle in his eye when we sang this song - his song.
There may well be some tears the next time we sing it.

Parkinson´s is not an easy journey, but it didn´t steal Jos´s zest for life.
We will remember him with love, with admiration for his determination, and with gratitude for the joy he brought to others. The whole choir family send sincere condolences and best wishes to Viv and to the family at this sad time.