Ewald van Hetten

Ewald van Hetten
Born	(1927-11-18) 18 November 1927 Paramaribo, Suriname
Occupation	Heavy-equipment operator
Years active	1945–1997
Era	Vader Era Middenvader Era Vriend Era
Spouse	Alida Pinas ​ (m. 1954)​
Children	Rinaldo van Hetten Marcel van Hetten Mariska van Hetten
Father	Maurits van Hetten
Relatives	Wijnand van Hetten (brother) Henk van Hetten (nephew)
Family	Van Hetten family

Ewald van Hetten (born 18 November 1927) is a retired Surinamese heavy-equipment operator. He worked at the Van Hetten family dump site in Paramaribo from 1945 until 1997 and became its main crane and excavator operator. He also trained his nephew, Henk van Hetten, to operate heavy machinery.

Early life

Ewald van Hetten was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on 18 November 1927. He was the son of Maurits van Hetten, who founded the Van Hetten family dump site, and the older brother of Wijnand van Hetten.

Van Hetten left school and began working full-time at his father's dump site on 16 July 1945, aged 17. Maurits initially taught him routine site work and basic machinery maintenance.

On 6 August 1947, Maurits began training Van Hetten to operate a second-hand Ruston-Bucyrus 10-RB cable excavator configured as a dragline. Van Hetten used the machine to excavate disposal areas. He also maintained drainage channels around the site.

Maurits acquired a Hitachi U06 cable-operated shovel on 7 August 1951. The U06 became Van Hetten's main machine and was used for excavation and loading work at the dump site.

Career

Van Hetten remained at the dump site after Wijnand assumed ownership from Maurits on 1 April 1968. Wijnand managed the site and operated machinery when required. Van Hetten performed most of its specialised crane and excavator work.

In 1980, Van Hetten began teaching Henk to operate cranes. Henk first used the site's Kobe Steel 10KT truck crane to load scrap and reusable construction materials. Van Hetten later trained him on a Kobelco 300-series lattice-boom crawler crane.

Van Hetten retired from full-time work on 8 August 1997. His son, Rinaldo van Hetten, was the only one of his children to work at the dump site. Rinaldo dismantled discarded machinery and separated components that could be reused.

After retiring, Van Hetten continued visiting the site and advised Wijnand and Rinaldo when asked. On 10 April 2026, Wijnand transferred the property to Henk, and it became a construction yard operated by Paramarbo. Van Hetten still visits the yard occasionally.

Personal life

Van Hetten married Alida Pinas on 12 June 1954. Pinas remained outside the family business. They had two sons, Rinaldo and Marcel van Hetten, followed by a daughter, Mariska van Hetten.

Van Hetten and Pinas moved from Paramaribo to Domburg on 8 September 1997, one month after his retirement. They continue to live there.

See also

• Wijnand van Hetten
• Maurits van Hetten
• Henk van Hetten
• Paramarbo
• Van Hetten family
• Van Hetten family members