Jan van Casteren

Only today I learned the sad news. During the time in the BepiColombo project I always enjoyed working with Jan. He treated people with respect at all times and always had a positive attitude, especially when times were difficult. He was a very fine person and he will live on in our memories.

Dear Family van Casteren,

We would like to express our sincere condolences on the death of Jan. He was a wonderful person, with whom we had the pleasure to spend some very nice moments during our time at Lake Constance.

Jan, it was an honor and privilege to have known and worked with you. You are now and will remain in our thoughts. We will miss you very much,

Petra and Marc

I am really sorry to hear of Jan's death. I worked with him for BepiColombo since he joined BepiColombo as a project manager. He was always calm and kind. BepiColombo is a really hard project.
BepiColombo project becomes a very good project and I think Jan's personality had a big impact on that. Jan, I really miss you.

Dear Family v. Casteren, despite knowing about Jan’s disease and expecting the worst I felt very sorry hearing of his decease. Please accept my deepest condolences.
From the first moment back in 1989 when joining as young engineer the EURECA Project and met Jan, I felt great sympathy for him, for his personality, professionalism, technical knowledge and calmness even in most difficult times of a project. These character features I could appreciate many years later again on BepiColombo, where he was my project manager.
Together we shared the love for the Garda Lake, the preferred family holiday location and by coincidence the area, I was born. I remember with pleasure our long discussion about God and the World we had during our many common mission to Japan and elsewhere.
One of the last Gentlemen with a capitol G has left us. Jan, we will be missing you.

I first met Jan in the mid-90s and had the privilege to work with him on three great spacecraft projects, XMM, Rosetta and BepiColombo. He was always enthusiastic and encouraging and I count myself lucky to have become a friend. As with so many others, I was shocked to hear of Jan’s cancer but I am sure the support and encouragement of his family and friends helped him with his fight.
Jan, now it is time for your sole to rest in peace. You will be sorely missed but you have left behind an indelible mark on so many of us who were fortunate enough to have known you. To your family, I send my heartfelt condolences. I know that this is a very difficult time for you but I hope that, in the not-too-distant future, you will be able to look back at your life with Jan and smile. In the meantime, stay strong.

First time I met Jan end 2008 shortly before I became project manager for the BepiColombo spacecraft at Airbus. He finished our meeting with „I am convinced we will make it“ and his eyes were glowing. This was for me the biggest motivation to fight with him to bring BepiColombo to success. He has overcome all hurdles of the project and I was very happy to have enjoyed with him the launch in Kourou.
But his brave fight against the cancer he couldn't win unfortunately. I am very sad about that and will always remember our great time together with his enthusiasm, openness, diplomacy and deep technical understanding and of course his spirt to fight.
May your soul now rest in peace. For your family in sorrow my deepest sympathy.

I am so sad to hear about the loss of Jan. I had the privilege to work with him for the early days of the BepiColombo project from the turn of the 21st century till 2006. Jan and I were the ESA and the JAXA BepiColombo project manager, respectively. I fully trusted his competence and entirely respected his humanity and kindness. I remember his smile when I coincidentally met him at the ESTEC cafeteria in 2016 after 10 years. May Jan’s soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family.

Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa, JAXA




We would like to express our sincerest condolences. 
He was such a great person who successfully developed good collaboration between ESA and JAXA in the BepiColombo project.
We are truly proud to have been great fellowship with him forever.
 May he rest in peace.

JAXA BepiColombo Project Team

We would like to express our sincerest condolences.
He was such a great person who successfully developed good collaboration between ESA and JAXA in the BepiColombo project.
We are truly proud to have been great fellowship with him forever.
May he rest in peace.

I am so sad to hear about the loss of Jan. I had the privilege to work with him for the early days of the BepiColombo project from the turn of the 21st century till 2006. Jan and I were the ESA and the JAXA BepiColombo project manager, respectively. I fully trusted his competence and entirely respected his humanity and kindness. I remember his smile when I coincidentally met him at the ESTEC cafeteria in 2016 after 10 years. May Jan’s soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family.

It was very sad to learn about Jan loss.
Working with Jan for several years, first on Rosetta and then on BepiColombo satellite projects, has been for me a pleasure and a privilege. Beyond the highly estimeed engineer and manager, he was a friend. I will not forget his smile, accompanying him also in bad times, showing his positive way to approach life and people. Ciao Jan, we will miss you. My sincere condolence to the family for this tragic loss.

Een bijzonder mens is niet meer onder ons.
Wat hebben we genoten van Jan. Bevlogen, empatisch, betrokken met altijd een luisterend oor. Zijn besmettelijke enthousiasme over zijn werk en zijn vermogen, om daarover op een begrijpelijke manier te praten hebben een grote indruk bij ons achtergelaten. We hebben hem vaak mogen ontmoeten bij evenementen van de Nederlandse Porsche Club en regelmatig reden we samen op.
Hij zal binnen de NPC een leegte achterlaten.

Jan,
working with you in the XMM, Rosetta and BepiColombo project was a joyful experience. Not only being a very good engineer, also a good friend on which you always could rely on. Me and my wife still remember you visiting our home in Salem/Germany, we played some music together and in particular you Spanish tunes were memorable.

For us, it was an honour and privilege to have known and worked with you.

Agneta and Tommy Strandberg

Jan,
unsere gemeinsamen Jahre der Zusammenarbeit in den Projekten ROSETTA und BeppiColombo werden mir allzeit in bester Erinnerung bleiben. Warum? Weil Jan als Projektmanager beides war, ein sehr guter Allroundingenieur mit schneller und umfassender Auffassungsgabe und gleichzeitig immer auch Mitmensch den ich auch um Hilfe bitten konnte.
Auch wenn die technischen Probleme groß, die zeitplanerischen und finanziellen Herausforderungen immens waren, so war Jan immer lösungsorientiert. Seine ganze Art etablierte eine natürliche Autorität, meine uneingeschränkte Loyalität habe ich dir Jan gerne gegeben.

Gehab dich wohl Jan, wo immer du jetzt sein mögest

Horst K.Fiebrich
ROSETTA & BepiColombo electrical system engineer

My wife Debbie and I knew Jan when he was a Delft exchange student at JPL, where he spent a summer working on the IRAS project, a joint Dutch-UK-USA mission. We have exchanged Christmas cards every year since then, so we stayed informed of events in each others' lives. I was very pleased with his successful career in the aerospace industry, expecting no less because of the excellent creative work he did as a student for the IRAS project, which was immensely successful, and much of that success was due to Jan's work. Everyone who knew him at JPL loved him. He enriched many lives and will be greatly missed.

I worked with Jan on BepiColombo and have very good memories of a friendly, warm, approachable man who always had time for people and maintained a fine balance of work with happiness. We spent many times discussing his Porsche and trackdays, which I know he loved and I’m sure he has many,many friends there too. God speed Jan, far too early,; it was an honour and privilege to have known and worked with you... Mike

"Die Projektteams „Rosetta“ und „BepiColombo“ von Airbus haben Jan für seine Kompetenz und sympathische Art sehr geschätzt und bedauern seinen Tod zutiefst. Die ausnahmslos positiven Erinnerungen an Jan während vieler Jahre der Zusammenarbeit werden immer bleiben.
Allen Hinterbliebenen gilt die aufrichtige Anteilnahme der Teams für den schweren Verlust."

Vaarwel Jan, wij hebben samengewerkt op meerdere mooie projekten, onder andere XMM en Rosetta. Je was altijd oplossingsgericht, positief, en aangenaam in de omgang, zelfs in moeilijke situaties. Net als veel collega's ben ik zeer bedroefd dat je heen moest. Ik wens jouw nabestaanden veel sterkte.

Zeer bedroefd te horen dat Jan er helaas niet meer is. Hij was een zeer gewaardeerde collega en ik ben 1 van de gelukkigen om Jan te hebben mogen leren kennen toen ik werkzaam was voor het BepiColombo project op Estec. Jan was een warm mens en altijd positief en goedlachs. Hij zal erg gemist worden. Ik wens de familie heel veel sterkte toe met dit grote verlies.

Dear Family,
It is very sad to have to share the loss of Jan with all of you. Jan was a very highly esteemed colleague in the Science Programme team, first as an engineer in the XMM-project, culminating into the Project Manager of Bepi-Colombo. Jan also was a very good friend and I will never forget Jan inviting me to Estec after my retirement to show me his Bepi-Colombo undergoing its first system environmental test. I also recall how we all felt miserable when he made us part of his illness, but we had to admire the way he dealt with it. Because of this he will surely be missed by the Science Programme community. I wish the family all the strength to overcome this tragic loss.

Dear Jan,
it has been a real privilege to work with you for BepiColombo. Thanks to your great drive, wonderful human approach, immense constructiveness that our Team is always united to overcome any issues. Always an immense pleasure to spend time and exchange ideas with you. You will be missed by many, and will always be present among us.

When I started working at ESTEC 30 years ago I joined the Eureca project as a young engineer working together with Jan in preparing the operations of the mission. I could not have had a better tutor than Jan for this, both from a human and professional perspective, and I learned so much fro him, for which I will always be grateful. After our very intense time together on Eureca (with many long nights spent together during the early operations) I moved the opposite way (i.e. to Darmstadt) and our paths only crossed much less frequently then, though we of course still met on several occasion. I will always keep this memory of him as the very kind and noble person and highly professional colleague he was. My sincere condolence to you, his family.

Jan was one of my first colleagues when I joined ESTEC nearly 34 years ago. We worked on EURECA at that time and he was on the same project but still at ESOC. When he moved to ESTEC few years later, we immediately became good friends. I found Jan a very knowledgeable and competent engineer and an extremely kind and friendly person. He used to explain me the Dutch way of living, with his charm and noble spirit. We worked together until EURECA launch and retrieval and we shared so many good and some difficult times: at ESOC in the control room, in ESTEC, in NASA Houston, with astronauts and so on (see enclosed pictures). Jan was also amazing in the way he took his sickness. I was really touched by the nobility - in all senses of the term - in which he faced the long years of sufferings and limitations to his active life and I believe he was so also in approaching his death. I could fill pages talking about Jan and the many memories I have of him also when later didn’t work together anymore but still in the same Science directorate. Jan will remain for me an example professionally and as a human being and I think he will be the same and for sure even more for his children ( and grand-) and his wife. You sure are proud of him. Be the great memory of him a little compensation for his loss.

I am very sad to hear about the loss of Jan. He was part of the XMM team in the 90's. Jan was a very kind, discrete colleague and with great human quality.
My most sincere condolences to his family.
A few nice pictures with Jan during a XMAS lunch at Estec in 1997 or 1998

Veel te vroeg Jan! Ik herinner me nog am ons eerste project, EURCA, toen was ik nog in Bremen. Later bij ESTEC hadden we nog het een of andere gesprek, steeds bewonderde ik jouw rustige, intelligente manier om dingen te benaderen.
Ik zal je niet vergeten!

I first worked with him as part of the Rosetta launch, and then again on Bepi Colombo. Jan always came across as a respectful and kind person. My heartfelt condolences to Jan's family.

I had the pleasure to meet Jan during my time on BepiColombo. I got to know him as a calm and friendly man that was sincerely interested in the people around him. I truly admire the way he handled his sickness, always positive, always with a smile on his face. You are dearly missed.

Condoleances for the death of Jan ; I have never worked with him, but knew him from crossing each other in corridors, coffee corners, etc........ always a big smile, kind words, warm greetings, a ray of sun crossing your path !
what a bright and kind person ! " bon courage pour la famille" Dany

I had the privilege to work with Jan on the BepiColombo project. Jan was liked and respected immensely by everybody in the science team especially by myself. He was always friendly and incredibly helpful & knowledgeable. He was open minded when we discussed science issues and tried always to make things happen.
I was in E-mail contact with him two few weeks ago when I discussed some issues of a BepiColombo paper with him which I'm currently writing. He told me that he was not doing well at all and that there is no further treatment possible for him. Even in this situation he was interested in the well-being of me and my family and in the mission. He gave me advise on people I should not forget to acknowledge in the paper and provided the inputs I asked for. I will remember the many professional and private discussions we had. He was a real gentleman and an excellent space engineer and wonderful colleague. He has been a model for me and many of us. Our sincere condolences to Jan's family. Rest in peace Jan, we will miss you.
Johannes and the BepiColombo science team

A few words a got from colleagues, which I would like to share:
When I was in JAXA, I was in the system team, and visited ESTEC very frequently for the meeting with ESA team which he lead.
By his (Jans) efforts, we survived.
We did not have a chance to see his family, but please transfer my & our sincere condolences from the opposite side of the continent. This mission is long and many colleagues who lead in the initial phase were retired. For them, we shall do our best.
KASABA, Yasumasa (Tohoku Univ. Japan)

Surely we will never forget Jan, a great specialist who never missed the human aspects of his work relationships.
Good bye Jan, you will stay inside our hearts
Stefano Orsini (Italy)

I have a really good feeling, and just positive memories of Jan. Please forward my condolences to Jan's family.
Kind regards,
Juhani Huovelin (Finland)

In the days working together, he was respected from everyone and a symbol of great ESA-ISAS Joint Team.
I miss you. May your soul rest in peace, Jan.
MASAKI ADACHI (former MMO project manager in NEC, Japan)

I pray for his soul in peace and with BepiColombo.
Go Murakami (JAXA, Japan)

I had the privilege to work and sail with Jan. His competence, kindness, and humanity come immediately to mind when remembering these days. Immensely sad to hear about his passing. My condolences to his loved ones.

Rust zacht Jan

Jan was a great colleague and team leader which was very much appreciated when I worked with him on XMM. His leadership based on experience, calm and human competences was recognised by all the team. He was very courageous and brave fighting against his illness since very long. I present my sincere condolences to his family hoping him Peace and I will not forget to pray for him and his family.

Daniel

NB: below is picture of Jan in Kourou with colleagues at the launch of BepiColombo (20 Oct18)

Jan was a great colleague to work with on XMM, and his death is a loss to all, chiefly to his family to which I present my sincere condolences.
Let us remember the calm professional Jan who contributed so much to the success of European space science projects.
Au revoir Jan, courage Lidy.
Robert

It is with great sorrow that we have learnt of the untimely death of Jan, our leader, colleague and friend for many years and in so many momentous occasions.
We were always impressed by the strength of his spirit and his cool confidence in the success of our work, no matter what challenges and adversities. He was a leader who shared his strength and faith with all who knew him.
Your loss is beyond measure. But we hope that you can take some comfort from your knowledge that, by his skill and dedication, Jan has guaranteed future generations a knowledge that will enrich their lives on Earth.

The Bepis (BepiColombo team)

Veel mooie herinneringen aan Jan; herinneringen die al heel lang terug gaan.
Zoals -al weer veertig jaar geleden- de berekeningen aan de kiel van een te bouwen boot. Het moest een mooi vleugelprofiel worden en daar wist Jan alles van. Zelfs van de moeilijke opgave om het volume daarvan te berekenen. Met dagen puzzelen en urenlang rekenen kwam dankzij Jan het beste resultaat tot stand.
Ook zijn er de mooie herinneringen aan de jaarlijkse wintersportvakanties samen met de gezinnen van Casteren. Prachtige vakanties en dan samen met Jan zoeken naar de beste techniek om van de berg af te komen.
Het is triest dat iemand die altijd het beste wilde voor anderen en klaar stond om een handje te helpen nu zo "onrechtvaardig" ziek moest worden.
Een goed mens, een mooi mens, is heen gegaan. Zeker een groot gemis voor ieder om hem heen.
Veel sterkte vooral voor Lidy en de kinderen en ook voor "oma Willy".

Jan,

it is sad to see you leaving so early. I remain with the pleasure of having met you and having shared many professional challenges, which you always mastered in an exemplary way, technically, managerially and especially from a human point of view.
You always had a smile when I met you and I want to preserve this memory with me.
Be your family strong enough to go through this tough time and capable of joying one day of having had the chance to share their walk in this world with you.
Ciao, A.

My sincere condolences to Jan's family. As a colleague of Jan on Rosetta and BepiColombo since 20 years, I will remember him as a kind person, always respectful of others, who has given so much to his projects. He has been a model for me. Rest in peace, Jan, you are missed.

Jan, always in my memory of a great member of our XMM team. Rest in piece. Giorgio

Lieve tante Willy, neven & nichten, (klein-) kinderen van Jan,

Heel veel sterkte gewenst bij dit grote verlies na zo'n lange en dappere strijd. Opdat de herinneringen aan Jan´s warme en betrokken persoonlijkheid jullie kracht mogen geven.

Weggaan
Weggaan is iets anders
dan het huis uitsluipen
zacht de deur dichttrekken
achter je bestaan en niet
terugkeren. Je blijft
iemand op wie wordt gewacht.

Weggaan kun je beschrijven als
een soort van blijven. Niemand
wacht want je bent er nog.
Niemand neemt afscheid
want je gaat niet weg.

Rutger Kopland

Please receive my sincere condolences.
It was very sad to hear that Jan has passed away much too early. Jan was a very good colleague, and it was a privilege to have had the chance to work with him over many years. There are many good memories to cherish. Jan was always pleasant, calm and technically very strong. He will be missed.

My deepest condolences to all Jan’s family, friends and colleagues. I have many good memories of Jan as a colleague. I always enjoyed my discussions and interactions with him. Rest in peace.

To Jan's family my deepest condolences.
I was part of his last project team and I have appreciated working with him, as well as our talks about cars.

In memory of a very good colleague with whom I had excellent collaboration. You are leaving us much too early. Rest in peace. My sincere condolences to the family.

Het as geheel onverwacht voor mij om het overlijdensbericht van Jan te lezen. Ik herinner me vooral aan onze gemeenschappelijke tijd in ESTEC. Veel sterkte gewenst aan de familie.

Diepgemeend medeleven bij het overlijden van Jan. Jan was 7 jaar mijn sectiehoofd in het Rosetta project in ESTEC tot de lancering in maart 2004. Jan was één van mijn beste leidinggevenden in ESA. Guido Coupé ( guido.coupe@telenet.be )

Please accept my sincere condolences. I knew and worked with Jan for a far too short period but I appreciated him for his sincerity and concern for others. He was a lovely guy and he will be missed. RIP, Jan. Leo

My sincere condolences to Jan's family.
Jan was a great colleague to work with: always in a good mood, always respectful of the opinion of the others, always full of energy and passion in his work and in his interactions with all of us.
I'll remember him as a colleague but especially as a friend.

Dear family of Jan

Jan was a pleasure to work with - a sharp and clear mind in all technical discussions but combined with a fine sense of humour.
I send you all my deepest condolences and wish you strength at this difficult and sad time.

Lieve Jan,
Wat heb jij dapper gestreden om zo lang mogelijk bij Lidy, kinderen en kleinkinderen te blijven. Dit ondanks de pijn en vele ongemakken.
Het was tekenend zoals je in het leven stond, positief en moeilijkheden voor lief nemend.
We hebben fijne herinneringen aan onze vriendschap, de vele dierbare gesprekken, vooral met ons in Frankrijk waar je je heerlijk thuis voelde en zichtbaar kon genieten. Maar ook je grote passie voor de Porsche, hetgeen we op vele ritten konden delen.
Wij vonden het een eer om jou als mens gekend te hebben en zijn dankbaar voor ons afscheidsgesprek op de laatste dagen.
Rust zacht lieve Jan, je was een bijzonder waardevol mens op deze aarde.

Lieve Jan,
Wat heb jij dapper gestreden om zo lang mogelijk bij Lidy, kinderen en kleinkinderen te blijven. Dit ondanks de pijn en vele ongemakken.
Het was tekenend zoals je in het leven stond, positief en moeilijkheden voor lief nemend.
We hebben fijne herinneringen aan onze vriendschap, de vele dierbare gesprekken, vooral met ons in Frankrijk waar je je heerlijk thuis voelde en zichtbaar kon genieten. Maar ook je grote passie voor de Porsche, hetgeen we op vele ritten konden delen.
Wij vonden het een eer om jou als mens gekend te hebben en zijn dankbaar voor ons afscheidsgesprek op de laatste dagen.
Rust zacht lieve Jan, je was een bijzonder waardevol mens op deze aarde.

Mit Jan lange Jahre zu arbeiten war eine wirkliche Bereicherung, sowohl persönlich als auch beruflich. Er verband auf vorbildliche Weise menschliche und technische Kompetenz.
Mein herzliches Beileid gilt seiner Familie.
Kurt Aubeck

Gecondoleerd met het overlijden van Jan. Hij was een goede collega en hat was altijd fijn om met hem samen te werken. Sterkte!

Dear family of Jan, please accept my very sincere condolences. Jan’s keen intellect combined with his warm-hearted personality and humor is something I will always remember him for. He was an exceptional colleague. I am truly sorry for your loss which has come far too soon and I wish you the strength that this difficult time demands of you.

Lieber Jan,

schade dass du so früh aus dem Leben gehen musstest. Es war schön mit dir einen Teil unseres beruflichen Weges gemeinsam zu gehen. Diese Zeit werde ich immer gerne in guter Erinnerung behalten.

Manfred Warhaut

"Wenn die Sonne des Leben untergeht, funkeln die Sterne der Erinnerung."

Our sincere condolences to Jan's Family . I will long remember Jan as a gentle , calm and supportive Colleague . Peace and Serenity to Jan's Family .

Gecondoleerd met het overlijden van Jan. Het was een plaisir met hem te werken aan ESA projecten. Rust zacht.

Lidy, kinderen en familie,
Gecondoleerd met het overlijden van Jan. We beseffen dat het overlijden van Jan een enorm verlies voor jullie betekend. We kunnen jullie slechts sterkte wensen de komende tijd om het verlies te verwerken.
Ook binnen de Nederlandse Porsche Club was Jan een graag gezien lid. Nooit deden we vergeefs een beroep op hem. Met zijn rustige karakter, kennis en toewijding heeft hij ons vaak geholpen. Op evenementen was hij altijd belangstellend en de vriendelijkheid zelve, ook toen het met zijn gezondheid al minder ging. Persoonlijk heb ik een goede herinnering aan de gevoerde gesprekken met hem tijdens de laatste Oostenrijk rit.
Jan, bedankt voor alles en rust zacht.
Namens leden en bestuur van de
Nederlandse Porsche Club

Een jaar lang mocht ik in Hillegom als au pair deel uit maken van jullie gezin.
Ik heb daarvoor, zowel als daarna, nooit meer een mens ontmoet die zo rustig en beheerst was als Jan.
Ik herinner me nog altijd zijn zo ontwapenend, mooie, grote glimlach. Heel veel sterkte de komende tijd.

Gecondoleerd met het overlijden van Jan. Ik vond het een bijzonder mens, al heb ik hem vooral via de telefoon gesproken. Ik wens jullie, en met name Lidy, veel sterkte in de komende tijd!
Lieve groet,
Jessy

Lieve allemaal,

Onze oprechte condoleances in verband met het overlijden van Jan.

Wij wensen jullie héél veel sterkte en hopen dat jullie veel steun zullen vinden bij elkaar!
Hopelijk zullen ook alle mooie gezamenlijke herinneringen jullie een klein beetje helpen.

Lieve groetjes,

Arne en Carine Valk-van Casteren

Na een lang ziekbed heb je de strijd opgegeven en het aardse bestaan verruild met het hemelse. Rust zacht lieve Jan.
Ik wens Lidy en de kinderen veel sterkte toe in deze moeilijke tijd en ik hoop dat zij troost en steun bij elkaar en hun naaste familie kunnen vinden.