Martien van den Heuvel, former ceo of the Dutch Equestrian Federation (KNHS), passed away suddenly on Thursday morning 2 January 2014. Van den Heuvel died of a pneumonia.
Round Christmas Van den Heuvel was hospitalized briefly after a fall. He suffered from bruised ribs. Round New Year's Eve he was re-hospitalized for a pneumonia which turned out to be fatal
Van den Heuvel was a key player in the Dutch equestrian sport as former director of the CDI/CSI 's Hertogenbosch and Dutch Equestrian Federation. In 2002 he became the first director of the Dutch Equestrian Federation after the fusion of the different Dutch equestrian societies. He was head of the KNHS for nine years.
At his retirement from the KNHS in 2010, Martien said in his speech, "it was a tough job. The first five, six years we've worked more than fulltime. Then it become more normal, even though it still was a big job. I do want to say that I did it with incredible joy."
Martien became a KNHS Honorary Member in 2011.
Van den Heuvel, who lived in Den Dungen, The Netherlands, leaves behind a wife, two sons and a daughter.
Sources: ED.nl / Hoefslag
Photo © Dirk Caremans
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