Inleiding
Oom Jan het ‘n baie spesiale plek in ons lewens gehad. Hy het ast ware ons almal help grootmaak. Ons was nog altyd ‘n baie hegte gesin. My ma, Oom Jan en Oom Uysie (drie kinders van Oupa Eben en Ouma Susan) het so gereeld by mekaar gekom dat ek, Andre en Elmar net so naby aan ons neefs en niggies is as aan mekaar. Joretha, Suria, Daleen, Stafan, Marius, Anneliese, Andre, Elmar en ek is eintlik maar almal broers en sussies! Dis hoekom ek se^ dat Oom Jan ons almal help grootmaak het.
Deur al die grootste oomblikke van my eie lewe was hy daar. Met my Pa se dood was sy teenwoordigheid onmisbaar en hy het my Ma begrawe. Hy het my en Julie getrou en het vanuit Suid-Afrika vir Minette en my gebid toe ons getroud is. Met my ouers se afsterwe en Oom Uysie en Tannie Maryna het hy nog meer vir ons soos ‘n pa geword.
Oom Jan is die skakel wat ons met ons verlede het deur die baie male wat hy familie stories met ons gedeel het en dit neergeskryf het. Dit is iets wat hy nie net vir ons gee nie, maar vir die geslagte wat kom. Die afgelope paar jaar het hy die oorlogsdagboeke van sy oupa en oupa grootjie in Afrikaans vertaal en ook ‘n kort boekie wat sy ou grootjie geskryf het oor die Basotho oorloë en die vroeë jare van die onafhanklike Vrystaat Republiek.
Omdat my belangstelling in vleis is en hierdie blog oor dit gaan verbind ek sy baie vertellinge baie maal aan iets wat ek skryf oor vleis. Dit wys dat mens se verlede en jou hede onlosmaaklik aan mekaar vas is. Ons is die produk van almal wie voor ons gegaan het.
Hier wil ek graag als wat ek geskryf het waar Oom Jan ‘n bydrae gelewer het lys en ook die drie boeke wat hy vertaal het van sy voorouers.
Introduction
Uncle Jan had a very special place in our lives. In a way, he helped to raise all of us. We have always been a very close-knit family. My mom, Uncle Jan and Uncle Uysie (three children of Grandpa Eben en Grandmom Susan) so frequently visited each other that Andre, Elmar and I are just as close with our cousins as with each other. Joretha, Suria, Daleen, Stafan, Marius, Anneliese, Andre, Elmar and I are actually all brothers and sisters! This is why I say that Uncle Jan helped to raise all of us.
He was there through all the big events of my life. When my dad passed away his presence was warmly felt. He buried my mom. He married Julie and me and when Minette and I got married in New Zealand he prayed for us. With the passing of my parents and Uncle Uysie and Auntie Maryna he became even more like a parent to us!
Uncle Jan is the link with our past through the many family stories he shared with us and which he diligently wrote down. This is a gift, not just to us but to the generations to come. During the past year, he translated the war diaries of his grandfather and great-grandfather into Afrikaans and a short autobiography that his great-grandfather wrote about the Basotho wars and early life in the Free State Republic.
Since my interest is meat and this blog is dedicated to meat science, I connect his stories to meat. It shows that our present and past are interwoven! We are all products of those who came before.
I wish to list everything here where Uncle Jan contributed as well as the three books he translated of his ancestors.
Index
Including historical work I did further to the work of Oom Jan.
- ‘n Mens is ‘n mens deur mense (die lewe van Jan Kok)
- Die Pos Berig
- Fotos van Oom Jan
- Geslagsregister (ek moet die jongste ene hier in sit)
- On the Shoulders of Giants: Greeting Oom Jan
- Oom Jan onthou vir Sannie
- Oorlogsdagboek van Johannes Willem Kok (gebore 04 April 1880)
- Oorlogsdagboek van Kommandant Johannes Willem Kok
- Oupa Eben Kok
- Short Autobiography: Johannes Willem Kok.
- Stene van Herinneringe
- The Life and Times of Jan Kok.
Related Articles
- The Castlemaine Bacon Company
- Echoes in the first Union of South Africa cabinet (I will invert the order of the account and re-post it here)
- Family Photos
- Kolbroek (I will extract the family data and re-post it here; the telling of the factual story of the Colebrooke by Oupa Eben and Timo is the only fictitious part of the account)
- On Innovation and Creativity
- Oupa Eben’s Boerewors

Die Kompleet Werke van JW Kok (Oom Jan/ Kokkie)
The Collective Works of JW Kok (Oom Jan/ Kokkie)
Fotos (I will add many more)

Oom Jan en Suria

Oom Jan Kok

Oom Jan besig met die vertaling van een van die oorlogsdagboekke van ons voorouers.