From the Archives

Reverend Frederick Van der aa arrived as a missionary in Oklahoma at the behest of vicar apostolic, Bishop Theophile Meerschaert, in 1893. Father Van der aa was one of the first four priests recruited from Holland and Belgium. He would be the only one to stay in Oklahoma for his entire career. However, his service to the diocese was not without its difficulties.
 
In 1904, as pastor of the growing community of Kingfisher, he loaned the bishop the considerable sum of $3,000. He was from a rather well-to-do family and was capable of such magnanimity.
 
While it was a generous gesture, it was indeed a loan. Bishop Meerschaert indicated that the money would not be repaid. From 1904-1913, there was correspondence that was, at times, less than pleasant. Father Van der aa asked the apostolic delegate (later nuncio) in Washington for help in resolving the matter. As one might suspect, the bishop was none too pleased with his priest and finally constituted a tribunal to settle the issue. Not surprisingly, the tribunal ruled in favor of Father Van der aa. Finally, he received his payment in 1913 (waiving the interest), nearly 10 years later.
 
Father Van der aa was assigned to the parish in Apache, which for a European was a bit remote. For 17 years he served as pastor, and for many years sent letters to Bishop Meerschaert requesting a transfer. Each time, he was rejected. Since he was a man of independent means, he would leave his parish to escape the brutal Oklahoma summers for as long as six months and return to Holland. One has to wonder if this was not his form of retaliation.
 
With the coming of a new bishop, Francis Kelley, he was sent to Hinton in 1925 and Canute in 1930. Assigned to Skiatook in 1932, his irascible temperament finally got the best of him and Bishop Kelley informed him it was time to retire. Serving as the chaplain of the Benedictine sisters in Tulsa in his retirement, his behavior became more erratic. Sadly, he was diagnosed as mentally ill and died at a hospital in Saint Louis in 1945.
 
The story of Father Van der aa is tragic and strangely fascinating. Inflamed with missionary zeal, he came to Oklahoma to serve and spent most of his ministerial life facing set back after set back; some self-inflicted and some not. Bright and articulate, his is the case of wondering what might have been under different circumstances.