Investigators in Fatal I-5 Pileup to Check for Cocaine : An Evening of Nostalgia Lost in Nightmare

“It was to be a night of nostalgia for all of us--song and dance and talk of the homeland,” said John H. Wesseling, a Dutch immigrant now living in Bellflower. “But now there will be no music.”

A five-car collision at dusk on Interstate 5 south of San Clemente on Thursday night forced the cancellation of a pair of rare performances by a group of touring Dutch singers and musicians. Two members of the troupe were killed, and a third died Friday following a heart attack he suffered while still in a hospital. Many others were injured in the chain-reaction accident.

Jof Richares, the man who died Friday, was the producer of the show and was instrumental in bringing the entertainers together, Wesseling said.

The group’s two Los Angeles County shows--in La Mirada on Sunday and Inglewood on Oct. 4--were eagerly awaited by Southern California’s Dutch community, one of the nation’s largest. Topping the bill were three of Holland’s most popular signers in the 1950s, household names among the thousands of first-generation Dutch who have settled here since World War II.

While the trio--Eddie Christiani, Annie de Reuver and Rita Corita--no longer ride high on the charts, their appeal among older Dutch immigrants is rooted in their ballads about love, family and the North Sea. The shows, “The Netherlands: Then and Now,” was to be a sentimental journey for local Dutch-Americans.

“Back in Holland, I grew up with them, listening to their songs, the magic of their words,” recalled Lena Plat, who moved from Amsterdam to Los Angeles in 1964. She described Christiani, 70, as the “Frank Sinatra of Holland, singing those sweet love songs. I so looked forward to seeing all of them.”

In Thursday’s accident, Christiani suffered minor bruises but was healthy enough to return to the Travelers Inn in Buena Park, where the group has stayed since their arrival Tuesday. Reuver was released Friday from San Clemente General Hospital. Corita, whose real name is Rita Ooms, was in fair condition at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla.

The accident occurred when a truck driver, attempting to change lanes, slammed into the rear of one of two vans carrying the Dutch group.

‘Difficult to Judge’

When Christiani was told the truck driver had been arrested on drunk-driving charges, he said: “It is too difficult to judge another human being. It is just unbelievable, just unbelievable.”

Rather than talk about the tragedy, Christiani wanted to talk of the generosity of local Dutch. The Holland News, a Bellflower-based newspaper for Dutch-Americans, received dozens of calls Friday offering shelter and clothing for the accident victims.

“We are all very impressed by the fact that the Dutch community, the police and the Highway Patrol tried to help us so much,” Christiani said. Nearby, several of the accident survivors were seated in bathing suits and drinking around the pool. “It was such kindness, such a warm feeling in this hard world.”

Wesseling, who publishes the Holland News, said the Dutch entertainers had planned to tour the United States. But financial troubles and the lack of response undermined the effort. Organizers were forced to limit the tour to two Los Angeles dates--the Gateway Plaza Holiday Inn in La Mirada and the Mayflower Ballroom in Inglewood.

About 250 tickets at $12 a piece had been sold for Sunday’s La Mirada show, which included a series of younger performers who are better known in Holland but virtual strangers to Dutch-Americans. The 23-member group, including singers, musicians, technicians and spouses, were to move to the La Mirada Holiday Inn on Friday to begin rehearsing. On Monday, they were scheduled to go to Las Vegas before returning late next week to prepare for the Inglewood performance. Their U.S. stay was to end Oct. 6, when they were booked to fly home.

“We were looking forward to having some of the old nostalgia back,” said Wesseling, adding that it was also a chance to hear some of Holland’s most successful new talent, including Manke Nelis, who has three songs in the top 50 in Holland and was traveling with the group.

On the musicians’ final free day before plunging into rehearsals, they decided to go to San Diego to visit Sea World. They were at the halfway mark of the two-hour return trip when the accident occurred.

“It’s sad, a real downer for all the Dutch,” said Frits Brookhouse, a 77-year-old Los Angeles Dutchman. “There was so much anticipation. The community was excited; the performers were excited. Everything was falling into place.”

Brookhouse viewed the shows as a chance to spotlight Dutch traditions, which are often overshadowed by the fast-food, high-speed American culture.

“There was to be a dance following the La Mirada show,” he said, “a chance to meet with some of those musical stars. It would have been a fine evening.”

At its peak during the 1950s, the Dutch community in Southern California numbered about 100,000; it dwindled as the Dutch moved to other parts of the state. There are now about 50,000 Dutch in Southern California, making it one of the largest concentrations of Dutch immigrants in the nation.

Many of them settled in southeast Los Angeles County, which in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the region’s top milk-producing areas.

Each year in La Mirada, the Dutch Consulate holds an annual ball for Dutch-Americans.

“It is a tight-knit community that in time of need closes ranks,” said Maria Clavaux, chancellor of Dutch Consulate in Los Angeles.

Wesseling hopes that rather than refunding money for tickets sold to the shows, fans will let promoters donate the money to the accident victims.

VICTIMS OF I-5 PILEUP

DEAD

Wonny Wooft, 28, hometown unknown

Wiem Jansan, 20s, hometown unknown

Jof Richares, 48, Beets, Holland

INJURED

Sharp Memorial Hospital, San Diego

Elizabeth Bolenberg, fair condition

Nebig Leeflang, 49, Amsterdam, fair condition

Cornellis Pieters, 67, good condition

Tom Leeflang, 49, Amsterdam, released

Eddy Chresteane, 69, Amstelveen, released

Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla

Rita Ooms, 70, Alkmaar, fair

Laurens Beveren, 32, Amsterdam, serious

Tri-City Hospital, Oceanside

Hank van der Geld, 45, Amsterdam, good condition

Willy Weinkamp, 41, Amsterdam, released

Helen Halbmann, 65, Mission Viejo, released

San Clemente General Hospital

Hobert Eitenboon, 37, stable condition

Wilma Bomsneck, 26, Amsterdam, stable condition

Annie Reuver De A.M.C., 70, released

Menne Richares, 40, Beets, released

Johannes Wienkamp, 46, Amsterdam, released

Barendina Hooneman, 33, Amsterdam, released

Arae Pater, 27, released

Mission Community Hospital

Dolores Martha Weber, 67, Costa Mesa, released

Veronica Weber, 31, Costa Mesa, released

Saddleback Community Hospital, Laguna Hills

Lambert Van Unen, 42, Hoofddorp, released

Treated at the accident scene for minor injuries

Robertuf Ooms, 42, Alkmaar

Edward Hooneman, 35, Amsterdam

Uninjured but involved in accident

Peter Weber, 69, Costa Mesa

George Halbmann, 64, Mission Viejo