Willem Leonhardt was a Dutch millionaire whose family owned Peck & Company, a respected Dutch plumbing fixtures company; Peck & Co. was founded in the 1850's and had the contract to lay down most of Amsterdam's water system.
Following the First World War, there seemed to be an increased interest in the bathroom as a place of leisure; where previously the bathroom was never a topic of conversation in polite company, now it was heralded as an opulent retreat according to the Hollywood movies of the period. Because of this new interest, worldwide business for Peck & Company boomed.
Son of George and Victoire (née Wirix) Leonhardt of Schoonord, S'Graveland, The Netherlands; husband of Mona Louise (née Parsons) Leonhardt; brother of George Johannes Godefridus Leonhardt; uncle of world-renown harpsichordist and conductor, Gustav LEONHARDT.
He was educated at elementary school and at trade school in Amsterdam and received further education abroad, in England and in Switzerland. He joined his father's company, Peck & Co., in July 1929, initially travelling on business to countries around Europe.
In Feb 1937, Willen, from Holland on a business visit to North America, was introduced to the sister of a business acquaintance; Mona Parsons was working in New York City, having trained as a nurse at the Jersey City Medical School and employed in a Park Avenue office of an ENT specialist (Dr. Ross Faulkner, a native of Nova Scotia). Willem and Mona found they had a lot in common; but while he was quiet, reserved, sophisticated and suave, he admired Mona's poise, her spunky energy and her love of life. They both enjoyed a whirlwind courtship before Willem had to leave New York to complete his tour of the US and Mexico; before he left, he proposed to Mona.
The couple sailed to Holland, were married on 1 Sept 1937. They lived at Willen's parents estate at Schoonoord, S’Graveland, before moving into their own home, 'Ingleside' in Laren, North Holland.
When the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940, Willem and Mona decided to join a resistance group to help downed Allied airmen get back to England. They created a hiding room in their new home which was in an ideal location as a refuge. A member of their group soon betrayed them and both Mona and Willem were arrested by the Gestapo and were imprisoned: Mona was arrested in September 1941, Willem in December 1941. Mona was found guilty, condemned to death. Allowed to appeal, in 1942 her sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Willem was interned in different prisons for the duration of the war.
The couple was re-united after the war. But weakened and made less resistant to illness by the maltreatment and suffering he had endured while held in German prisons and concentration camps during the Second World War, Willem Leonhardt died in a hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
CITATIONS:
Shortly after the war's end two citations were received, and though both only bore one name-MONA LEONHARDT-both Mona and Willem are surely deserving of the praise and gratitude:
The first, from Air Chief Marshall Lord Tedder of the Royal Air Force, reads-
"This certificate is awarded to
Mrs. Leonhardt
as a token of gratitude for and appreciation
of the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers
and Airmen of the British Commonwealth
of Nations, which enabled them to escape
from, or evade capture by the enemy."
The second, from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reads-
"The President
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
has directed me to express to
MONA LEONHARDT
the gratitude and appreciation of the
American people for gallant service
in assisting the escape of Allied
soldiers from the enemy."
Following the First World War, there seemed to be an increased interest in the bathroom as a place of leisure; where previously the bathroom was never a topic of conversation in polite company, now it was heralded as an opulent retreat according to the Hollywood movies of the period. Because of this new interest, worldwide business for Peck & Company boomed.
Son of George and Victoire (née Wirix) Leonhardt of Schoonord, S'Graveland, The Netherlands; husband of Mona Louise (née Parsons) Leonhardt; brother of George Johannes Godefridus Leonhardt; uncle of world-renown harpsichordist and conductor, Gustav LEONHARDT.
He was educated at elementary school and at trade school in Amsterdam and received further education abroad, in England and in Switzerland. He joined his father's company, Peck & Co., in July 1929, initially travelling on business to countries around Europe.
In Feb 1937, Willen, from Holland on a business visit to North America, was introduced to the sister of a business acquaintance; Mona Parsons was working in New York City, having trained as a nurse at the Jersey City Medical School and employed in a Park Avenue office of an ENT specialist (Dr. Ross Faulkner, a native of Nova Scotia). Willem and Mona found they had a lot in common; but while he was quiet, reserved, sophisticated and suave, he admired Mona's poise, her spunky energy and her love of life. They both enjoyed a whirlwind courtship before Willem had to leave New York to complete his tour of the US and Mexico; before he left, he proposed to Mona.
The couple sailed to Holland, were married on 1 Sept 1937. They lived at Willen's parents estate at Schoonoord, S’Graveland, before moving into their own home, 'Ingleside' in Laren, North Holland.
When the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940, Willem and Mona decided to join a resistance group to help downed Allied airmen get back to England. They created a hiding room in their new home which was in an ideal location as a refuge. A member of their group soon betrayed them and both Mona and Willem were arrested by the Gestapo and were imprisoned: Mona was arrested in September 1941, Willem in December 1941. Mona was found guilty, condemned to death. Allowed to appeal, in 1942 her sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Willem was interned in different prisons for the duration of the war.
The couple was re-united after the war. But weakened and made less resistant to illness by the maltreatment and suffering he had endured while held in German prisons and concentration camps during the Second World War, Willem Leonhardt died in a hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
CITATIONS:
Shortly after the war's end two citations were received, and though both only bore one name-MONA LEONHARDT-both Mona and Willem are surely deserving of the praise and gratitude:
The first, from Air Chief Marshall Lord Tedder of the Royal Air Force, reads-
"This certificate is awarded to
Mrs. Leonhardt
as a token of gratitude for and appreciation
of the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers
and Airmen of the British Commonwealth
of Nations, which enabled them to escape
from, or evade capture by the enemy."
The second, from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reads-
"The President
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
has directed me to express to
MONA LEONHARDT
the gratitude and appreciation of the
American people for gallant service
in assisting the escape of Allied
soldiers from the enemy."
Willem Leonhardt was a Dutch millionaire whose family owned Peck & Company, a respected Dutch plumbing fixtures company; Peck & Co. was founded in the 1850's and had the contract to lay down most of Amsterdam's water system.
Following the First World War, there seemed to be an increased interest in the bathroom as a place of leisure; where previously the bathroom was never a topic of conversation in polite company, now it was heralded as an opulent retreat according to the Hollywood movies of the period. Because of this new interest, worldwide business for Peck & Company boomed.
Son of George and Victoire (née Wirix) Leonhardt of Schoonord, S'Graveland, The Netherlands; husband of Mona Louise (née Parsons) Leonhardt; brother of George Johannes Godefridus Leonhardt; uncle of world-renown harpsichordist and conductor, Gustav LEONHARDT.
He was educated at elementary school and at trade school in Amsterdam and received further education abroad, in England and in Switzerland. He joined his father's company, Peck & Co., in July 1929, initially travelling on business to countries around Europe.
In Feb 1937, Willen, from Holland on a business visit to North America, was introduced to the sister of a business acquaintance; Mona Parsons was working in New York City, having trained as a nurse at the Jersey City Medical School and employed in a Park Avenue office of an ENT specialist (Dr. Ross Faulkner, a native of Nova Scotia). Willem and Mona found they had a lot in common; but while he was quiet, reserved, sophisticated and suave, he admired Mona's poise, her spunky energy and her love of life. They both enjoyed a whirlwind courtship before Willem had to leave New York to complete his tour of the US and Mexico; before he left, he proposed to Mona.
The couple sailed to Holland, were married on 1 Sept 1937. They lived at Willen's parents estate at Schoonoord, S’Graveland, before moving into their own home, 'Ingleside' in Laren, North Holland.
When the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940, Willem and Mona decided to join a resistance group to help downed Allied airmen get back to England. They created a hiding room in their new home which was in an ideal location as a refuge. A member of their group soon betrayed them and both Mona and Willem were arrested by the Gestapo and were imprisoned: Mona was arrested in September 1941, Willem in December 1941. Mona was found guilty, condemned to death. Allowed to appeal, in 1942 her sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Willem was interned in different prisons for the duration of the war.
The couple was re-united after the war. But weakened and made less resistant to illness by the maltreatment and suffering he had endured while held in German prisons and concentration camps during the Second World War, Willem Leonhardt died in a hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
CITATIONS:
Shortly after the war's end two citations were received, and though both only bore one name-MONA LEONHARDT-both Mona and Willem are surely deserving of the praise and gratitude:
The first, from Air Chief Marshall Lord Tedder of the Royal Air Force, reads-
"This certificate is awarded to
Mrs. Leonhardt
as a token of gratitude for and appreciation
of the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers
and Airmen of the British Commonwealth
of Nations, which enabled them to escape
from, or evade capture by the enemy."
The second, from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reads-
"The President
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
has directed me to express to
MONA LEONHARDT
the gratitude and appreciation of the
American people for gallant service
in assisting the escape of Allied
soldiers from the enemy."
Following the First World War, there seemed to be an increased interest in the bathroom as a place of leisure; where previously the bathroom was never a topic of conversation in polite company, now it was heralded as an opulent retreat according to the Hollywood movies of the period. Because of this new interest, worldwide business for Peck & Company boomed.
Son of George and Victoire (née Wirix) Leonhardt of Schoonord, S'Graveland, The Netherlands; husband of Mona Louise (née Parsons) Leonhardt; brother of George Johannes Godefridus Leonhardt; uncle of world-renown harpsichordist and conductor, Gustav LEONHARDT.
He was educated at elementary school and at trade school in Amsterdam and received further education abroad, in England and in Switzerland. He joined his father's company, Peck & Co., in July 1929, initially travelling on business to countries around Europe.
In Feb 1937, Willen, from Holland on a business visit to North America, was introduced to the sister of a business acquaintance; Mona Parsons was working in New York City, having trained as a nurse at the Jersey City Medical School and employed in a Park Avenue office of an ENT specialist (Dr. Ross Faulkner, a native of Nova Scotia). Willem and Mona found they had a lot in common; but while he was quiet, reserved, sophisticated and suave, he admired Mona's poise, her spunky energy and her love of life. They both enjoyed a whirlwind courtship before Willem had to leave New York to complete his tour of the US and Mexico; before he left, he proposed to Mona.
The couple sailed to Holland, were married on 1 Sept 1937. They lived at Willen's parents estate at Schoonoord, S’Graveland, before moving into their own home, 'Ingleside' in Laren, North Holland.
When the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940, Willem and Mona decided to join a resistance group to help downed Allied airmen get back to England. They created a hiding room in their new home which was in an ideal location as a refuge. A member of their group soon betrayed them and both Mona and Willem were arrested by the Gestapo and were imprisoned: Mona was arrested in September 1941, Willem in December 1941. Mona was found guilty, condemned to death. Allowed to appeal, in 1942 her sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Willem was interned in different prisons for the duration of the war.
The couple was re-united after the war. But weakened and made less resistant to illness by the maltreatment and suffering he had endured while held in German prisons and concentration camps during the Second World War, Willem Leonhardt died in a hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
CITATIONS:
Shortly after the war's end two citations were received, and though both only bore one name-MONA LEONHARDT-both Mona and Willem are surely deserving of the praise and gratitude:
The first, from Air Chief Marshall Lord Tedder of the Royal Air Force, reads-
"This certificate is awarded to
Mrs. Leonhardt
as a token of gratitude for and appreciation
of the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers
and Airmen of the British Commonwealth
of Nations, which enabled them to escape
from, or evade capture by the enemy."
The second, from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reads-
"The President
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
has directed me to express to
MONA LEONHARDT
the gratitude and appreciation of the
American people for gallant service
in assisting the escape of Allied
soldiers from the enemy."
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
