Dirk Leegwater

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Dear Stefan,

My condolences. A great loss to your family and friends. His battle is over, may he Rest In Peace.

Dirk was a great man who was a leading figure in our hobby for many decades. I will propagate his mantra regarding the Canadian Army Overseas: “our true liberators”.



Sincerely,
Hanno

[Owen Evans]

Dear Stefan,

So sorry to hear this terrible news, Dirk will be greatly missed.

Our condolences to you and your family at this sad time.



Sincere Regards,
Owen.

[tankbarrell]

Stefan,

very sorry to hear your sad news as I too lost my father at 75 and it is far too young.

I remember with fondness the hospitality you both showed when I visited many years ago.

Regards,

Adrian Barrell

[Marc van Aalderen]

Dear Stefan and family,

My sincere condolences on the loss of your father.

I'm sure he will be missed by many vehicle collectors and friends all over the world.

He always was good natured and made you feel very welcome visiting at the yard.

All the best!

Dirk, I salute you!

[Pete Ashby]

Very sorry to hear the sad news Stefan condolences to you and your family.

Dirk will be sadly missed, he championed CMP collecting in the days when they were regarded as being not as desirable as their US counter parts.

He played no small part in changing that situation by providing an unparalleled spare parts service of largely NoS parts for collectors and restorers world wide.

Sincerely
Pete

[Jordan Baker]

Stefan and Astrid, my sincere condolences to you and the rest of your family.

[Brian Gough]

Stefan, we are so sorry to learn of Dirk's passing.

It was a long hard struggle for him and we hope you find comfort he is no longer suffering. Please pass on our sincere condolences to Astrid, Sjoertje, Mariska, Patricia and the whole LWD family.

This is a sad time but do reflect on all the good memories you have . As Hanno has best said, Dirk was "a leading figure in our hobby for many decades." The fact he was such a lover of things Canadian, especially CMP vehicles has helped everyone of us here. Dirk was truly one of the original CMP guys, as a collector, restorer and as a dealer.

For Barry Churcher and me this began in Normandy in 1994 when we were introduced by Ruud Francissen. Dirk was waiting in his HUP for the KTR parade to start. This was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Pont Audemer (Aug 26, 1944) by the Princes Irene Brigade.

From that initial meeting our long time friendship began. We have so many great memories over the years, from visiting Broek op Langedijk, working on the beach, attending Liberation and D Day events in Holland and Normandy, staying in the LWD tent at the War & Peace show and his annual fall 'buying' trips to Castleton. Dirk had a real knack for searching out and finding interesting things right here in our Ontario backyard with repeat visits to among others, Brian Asbury, Bob Phillips and the Elliot Brothers in Newtonville. Our side trips to Fall Hershey will long be remembered. Back at Barry's Castleton Staging Yard, nobody could stuff a container like Dirk (and you and Albert).

I know Dirk liked to be thought of a doer - not a "paper guy" and his restorations showed that. But he sure had the largest and best collection of CMP and other military vehicle books and manuals I know of. We have many great memories of wonderful hours spent around the big table in the LWD library reading the books and drinking coffee or Amstel. I will always be grateful to Dirk for the two occasions we got to meet and spend time talking with and learning from Bart Vanderveen.

He will be missed. Dirk, rest in peace.

Brian

[lssah2025]

Sorry to hear that Stefan, your father helped a lot of us keep vehicles on the road and also pats to restore vehicles over the years, he will be sorely missed..