Roelof doing the Ride for the Roses in honor of his friend "Wild" Bill Garrett
who survived throat cancer.
This page was created in July/August 2003. Our friend Roelof was
ill, and we were going to do a bicycle ride in his honor. This page
was created to explain what was going on. It has since metamorphosized
into a memorial for our friend, who passed away on November 16, 2004.
Roelof Engelbrecht is
a College Station cyclist. He and his wife Loela are originally from South
Africa. They came to the USA as students and met each other in 1996 at Texas A
and M University. Roelof is a Professional Engineer and is currently employed
at the Texas Transportation Institute as a researcher. He used to be a very
healthy and avid cyclist. In September 2002 he became ill and was diagnosed in
February of 2003 with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare,
untreatable liver disease for which the only cure is a liver transplant.
Roelof is currently on the liver transplant waiting list. Even though he has
health insurance, there are tremendous costs (deductibles, co-pays,
co-insurance, a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs, etc.) that he will have to
cover out of his own pocket. Consequently, he has been advised by his Liver
Transplant Team in Houston to start a fundraising effort with a goal of
raising $50,000. Roelof and Loela have been very involved with International
Students: ministering, teaching English and opening their hearts and home.
Although they have no family in the USA, Roelof and Loela have been blessed
with a wonderful support group consisting of people of more than 15 countries.
On August 16, 2003 we did a bicycle ride in Roelof's honor. We
raised $700 at the ride (we've since increased that to $790 total)
to donate to his account. We had 24 riders ride anywhere from 7 to
60 miles.
Here's the story of Roelof's transplant in the Bryan/College Station Eagle. Roelof got one kick-butt abdominal scar from the transplant. Roelof and Loela report that they made their funding goal of $50,000, and they are very grateful for the help they received from their fundraisers such as the BVC.
The Social Ride pays a social call to Roelof
after his transplant surgery. Roelof is on the right. We hope
to have him back on our ride again in 2004.
During this next stretch where we have few updates, Roelof was undergoing chemotherapy for the liver cancer. He particpated on bvc-chat occasionally. You can check the archives yourself if you are curious.
Roelof has meningitis. May, 2004
Back in the hospital. May, 2004
Not doing too well in the hospital. May, 2004
A friend went to visit Roelof in the hospital. May, 2004
Roelof is finally feeling better! May, 2004
Roelof comes home. May, 2004
We saw Roelof out on his bike several times over the summer, he took a short ride with Jean Marie, and in August he was able to do a Social Ride (long route) and the Time Trial on September 1. We were very glad to see him able to enjoy riding his bike again.
The cancer has returned. October, 2004
It's bad, and little the doctors can do. October, 2004
Visiting our friend.
October, 2004
Gone to Houston
October, 2004
Back in College Station
October, 2004
Deteriorating Rapidly
November 8, 2004
Visiting/end is near
November 10, 2004
Thoughts
November 10, 2004
No more visitors
November 10, 2004
A better day and a poster from Lance Armstrong November
15, 2004 and more
Roelof passes away November 16, 2004
Roelof's Memorial November
17, 2004,
plans
to ride to the Memorial.
There were people of great diversity at Roelof's memorial. Many people
in native dress from all over the world, and our small band of cycling
siblings, in full regalia, huddled together for warmth on a pew of Grace
Bible Church after a rainy ride out to the memorial. Loela used Roelof's
bicycle as a stand for a floral display in the foyer of the church,
along with 2 8x10
shots of Roelof including the one at the top of this page,
and 2 shadowboxes of various cycling mementos from rides done in honor of
Roelof throughout his illness, the signed poster from Lance, and other
memorabilia. The two shadowboxes were created by Roelof's BVC friends
and paid for by BVC.
A thank you from South Africa
November 25, 2004.
 | Social Ride visits Roelof on October 18, 2004. From left to right: Shawn Hokanson, Kenny, Roelof Engelbrecht, Jean Marie Linhart, Lenae Huebner(top), Laura Kennedy(below), Regina Hokanson, Jim Robison (standing), Chris Mentzer. Click on the photo to see a larger version. |
| Roelof looking chipper with a small visitor, Surya Srinivasa, at his feet. Roelof and Loela were Surya's first visitors in the hospital when he was born August 29, 2004. |
 | Happy to be visiting! Shawn Hokanson, Roelof Engelbrecht, Jean Marie Linhart, Chris Mentzer, Laura Kennedy and Regina Hokanson. Click on the photo to see a larger version |
Roelof on the far right, before getting sick. We visited the TAMU
wind tunnel in Fall 2002, apparently Lance
Armstrong has done wind tunnel studies there.
Bill Garrett and
his son Dillon do the Ride for the Roses 2003 in honor of Roelof.
Roelof's personal web page. And
his professional web
page. Roelof's
Web log.
County Road map for bicyclists made by Roelof
Here are some maps for the ride we did (big thanks to Annette Fett for making the maps):
60, 50, 40 and 30
mile route map in PDF format (Hi Res)
60, 50, 40, and 30 mile route map in JPG format (Hi Res)
60, 50, 40 and 30 mile route map in PDF format (Lo Res)
60, 50, 40, and 30 mile route map in JPG format (Lo Res)
Credits:
Jean Marie Linhart put this page together, Shawn Hokanson helped
to do a major update in Oct. 2004.
