He went through life as Jacques (Jack)and in 1868, at the age of 19, he joined the famous military band 'Grenadiers and Jagers' as a trumpeter.
He wed Anna Meysen in 1877 and the couple settled in Utrecht were Jacques became a member of the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra under the baton of C.Coenen. Jacques and Anna lived at Achter Klarenburg, more or less in the shadow of the 112 metres tall Dom spire, the highest structure in the land.
Was appointed leader of the Instrumental school for Brass in Utrecht, early 1881 and gave also violin lessons and composed in his spare time. The one known was a march ‘Le salut militair’, it had to be in that flavour I suppose with his military background; it was a composition for symphony and harmony. Also from his hand came quite a few arrangements, for instance ‘Fantaisie de l’Opera les Hugenots de Meyerbeer’ which he would loved to have seen published. After 12 years of dedicated service at the Instrumental school he left his function, to accept employment at the Municipality Office in Utrecht as a council clerk.
Being in poor health for some time, on May 23rd, 1901 at half past nine in the evening, he took his last breath. Wife Anna distraught, realised she had no picture of him and hastily summoned an artist to his deathbed to draw his portrait in charcoal.