SU MMER 2014
Foundation Focus B u i l d i n g Y o u r H e a l t h C a r e S ys t e m o f t h e F u t u r e
Hollandia Dairy: A Story About Heart, Hard Work and Heritage
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Historical photos provided by Arie de Jong
rie de Jong and his family are the classic American success story, resplendent with an Ellis Island beginning and inspiring lessons about what it takes to make it in the land of opportunity – hard work, family unity and an entrepreneurial spirit.
The de Jongs founded San Marcos-based Hollandia Dairy, one of the
most successful dairy businesses to come out of San Diego County and still going strong more than 60 years after its humble beginning. But before the de Jongs made it in America, they were immigrants who could not speak English and had just $35 in their possession.
Humble Beginnings Arie de Jong was just a boy when his family of 12 emigrated from Holland to the United States and settled in North County. The family sold everything to pay for their trip across the Atlantic Ocean and brought with them few possessions. But that didn’t matter. They had survived the Great Depression and World War II. It was time to start anew. “We were a team. That was it,” de Jong says over a cup of coffee in his ranch-style home near Lake Wolhford in Escondido. “We didn’t have a lot of options. When the war was over we had nothing. So we had to start all over, and America was the promised land.”
The de Jong Family Heritage Coffee and pastries at 10 a.m. are a daily ritual for de Jong and Anneke, his wife of nearly 50 years, in the dining area of their home in the historic estate known as Melrose Ranch. It is here where de Jong recalls his family’s
Anneke and Arie de Jong
voyage to New York and passing through Ellis Island. A picture of the de Jong children and their parents stepping off their boat is prominently displayed on the Hollandia Dairy website. “It was a rough boat ride,” de Jong remembers. “I remember waking up and seeing the Statue of Liberty and saying ‘wow, we’re in America’.” The de Jongs were indebted to “Uncle Sam,” from the start de Jong says. That would be his uncle, Sam Bruinsma, the dairy farmer who sponsored his family and gave the de Jongs their first jobs in America. “We worked hard and saved money,” de Jong says. The family initially lived in three small cottages by a creek near Old Pomerado Road in Poway. They eventually moved to Escondido, where de Jong attended Escondido High School.
The de Jong Family photographed when they emigrated from Holland to New York via Ellis Island. This photo was taken as they embarked on a flight from New York to the West Coast.
Arie de Jong, Sr., and his wife, Maartge, emigrated from the Netherlands in 1949 and went on to build Hollandia Dairy, one of the most successful dairy businesses based in North San Diego County.
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