Traffic victim was devoted volunteer
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Volunteer work kept 84-year-old Gladys Van Rijsbergen active and physically fit.
Tim Cornell • Special to The Advertiser
The Waikiki Health Center's "Friendly Neighbors" program was one of her favorite volunteer activities. Van Rijsbergen has been coming to the center at 277 'Ohua Ave. since November 2000 to work with elderly Waikiki residents on Monday and Wednesday mornings, said the program's director Patty Geoghegan.
A van struck Gladys Van Rijsbergen Monday as she was walking in Waikiki.
Van Rijsbergen was on her way to the center Monday when she was struck by a van while crossing Kuhio Avenue. Van Rijsbergen died died Tuesday night at The Queen's Medical Center.
"She was so very special," Geoghegan said. "Everyone just loved her. She was bright, in perfect health, full of energy and so youthful looking. We miss her very much."
Geoghegan said Van Rijsbergen did volunteer work with the homeless in Santa Rosa, Calif., for Catholic Charities and with Hawai'i Public Radio in 2000.
"She was so involved with community work," Eric Van Rijsbergen, 29, said of his grandmother, who lived in Makiki. "She chose to do that rather than slow down and curl up. She had so much energy and a sharp mind."
Eric Van Rijsbergen was raised by his grandmother. She moved to Hawai'i from California about five years ago.
Vehicular homicide investigators said Van Rijsbergen was struck by a van turning left from Launiu Street onto Kuhio. Her death is O'ahu's 20th traffic fatality of the year, five fewer than in the same period last year, and she is the ninth pedestrian victim.
Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: Information about the number of traffic fatalities last year was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
