Jaap van Dorsser obituary: Rotorua springtime celebration a fitting tribute for nature lover

Jaap van Dorsser contributed hundreds of volunteer hours to maintaining and growing native bush over the past 40 years. Photo / Stephen Parker

A springtime celebration will be held on Saturday in remembrance of a Rotorua environmentalist.

Jaap van Dorsser died aged 92 on May 22 after suffering debilitating pericarditis. His family believed a springtime celebration of his life would be a tribute to the nature enthusiast.

They say van Dorsser contributed hundreds of volunteer hours to maintaining and growing native bush over the past 40 years and supporting clean waterways.

He was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for his services to the environment and was an innovative leader in establishing the Forestry Research Insitute (FRI) nursery in Rotorua.

He was a co-founder of the Rotorua Tramping and Skiing Club and was well known for initiating and leading the revegetation of the Ngongotahā stream.

Van Dorsser is survived by his daughter and two sons, and his three grandchildren.

Van Dorsser moved from Limburg in The Netherlands to New Zealand in the 1950s and was married to Sue van van Dorsser.

Eldest son, Steven van Dorsser, said his father was a “very likeable gentleman” and was “knowledgeable of the forest”.

“He was principled, hard-working and intelligent and had a great sense of humour,” Steven said.

Steven said “nothing phased” his father, who had wanted to live a “peasant” or simple lifestyle where materialistic objects did not matter.

He led an active lifestyle and grew his own vegetables.

“He was recycling before anyone knew what it was,” said Steven.

Steven said his father envisioned his work on the Ngongotahā stream as a “500-year project” taking into consideration tree species and specific plantation placements for future generations.

Nature enthusiast Jaap van Dorsser's life will be celebrated this weekend with a springtime ceremony.

“He didn’t shy away from hard work or commitment.”

Scion project delivery lead Vicky Hodder said she met van Dorsser when she was a garden nursery manager.

“I remember his ability to teach about plants because of his amazing passion for plants. That came through in his teaching.

“I guess it really instilled a love of plants in me as well.”

Hodder said van Dorsser was “just so down to earth” and was “passionate and animated when it came to teaching us about plants”.

“He sort of paved the way for forestry equipment and made New Zealand forest nurseries what they are.”

Family friend Shelly Gifford said van Dorsser was “colourful, passionate, clever, intelligent and a thinker”.

She said he “contributed in so many different ways to the environment [and] community”.

“He was sharp. Very sharp.”

Gifford said van Dorsser had a “great sense of humour” and was “extremely hardworking”, and his death was a “huge loss to our community”.

Rotorua Tramping and Skiing Club co-founder Ian Hayes said van Dorsser was a founding member “in the very early days during 1954 and 1955”.

Hayes said he was a “very likeable gentleman” who was knowledgeable of the forest and nurseries.

• A celebration of Jaap van Dorsser ’s life will be held on Saturday at Kaharoa Hall, 1.30pm. The celebration is open to all.

Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.

Correction

Misspellings of Jaap van Dorsser’s first name have been corrected in this story.