Jaap Ketting, 62-Year Resident of Bedford Hills

Jaap Ketting, a resident of Bedford since 1947, died on April 16 at 95 years of age.  Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, he completed his studies in 1937.  He moved to the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) in 1938 to work for a pharmaceutical firm. 

A recreational pilot, he was conscripted by the Netherlands East Indies Air Force when war broke out with Japan.  One week before Pearl Harbor, he was stationed at a secret air base on Borneo.  From here he flew many missions in a Glen Martin B-13 bomber against the Japanese fleet.  He was able to escape to Australia the night before the Dutch East Indies fell to the Japanese by taking off from a street that was being used as an emergency runway.

From Australia, he was sent to the newly formed Royal Netherlands Flying School in Jackson, Mississippi where he was trained as a B-25 pilot.  He was one of the first group of graduates who returned to Australia to fly missions against the Japanese occupied islands and enemy shipping.  He earned several decorations, including the Bronze Cross with clusters, the distinguished Flying Cross as well as the Dutch equivalent of the Purple Heart.

Following the war, he resumed his career as purchasing agent at the Katonah, New York offices of his former pharmaceutical employer in Indonesia.  Later, he co-founded Consolidated Midland Corporation, a pharmaceutical distributor initially based in Katonah and later in Brewster, New York.  He was sole owner and president of this concern from 1964 until his retirement in 1984.

During his retirement, he pursued his interest in local history, authoring two books, A Brief History of Roosevelt Drive, A Distinct Neighborhood in Bedford Hills, about where he lived for 62 years, and A Brief History of Bedford Hills.

He founded the serving as it first president.  For his efforts to increase awareness of local history, his fellow members of the Museum’s Board of Directors threw him a 93^rd birthday party in 2009, which included proclamations from the Town of Bedford, Westchester County, and New York State Legislature honoring his work.

Read more about Ketting in which they recall what life was like in Bedford Hills when they first moved to town.

There will be a memorial service at beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 28, followed by a reception at the Bedford Hills Historical Museum.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bedford Hills Historical Museum, P.O. Box 331, Bedford Hills, New York 10507.