Bernardus Maria Dooper (May 31, 1932 – April 16, 2020)

On April 23, 2020, FHI received the sad news that Ben Dooper passed away in Grubbenvorst on April 16. As director of 'the instrument' (1980 – 1994), Mr. Dooper led the agency for much of FHI's history. The history of an association continues to live on through individuals. Let me therefore express it personally and thank him for his contribution to FHI.

In the eighties and nineties, Mr. Dooper was the beacon for both the Het Instrument fair and the growing number of members of the association. He worked with a strong grassroots team on the professionalization of the association and he ensured that important political representatives paid tribute to the members' field of expertise.

As a person, Dooper was strict in discipline, committed to the club and driven to achieve results. In the many wonderful years of the fair, the 'apple' was still the symbol for the fair and the map was drawn up on the director's desk. A nice anecdote was that he was way ahead of his time. It was already a policy at that time not to smoke in the office, something that was occasionally not followed. The scorch marks, which were hidden as evidence, were found by Ben Dooper - one way or another - sooner or later.

From 2014, Het Instrument became part of the World of Technology & Science. It was a new direction that matched the continued integration of technology and science. In addition, it fitted in very well with the new collaboration between associations, but I was still a bit nervous when I received Ben Dooper at the fair.

When he saw me he said: 'Listen!'. We both stayed quiet for a moment. 'Do you hear it buzzing?'. I heard that. "So you hear that this is a good fair!", he gave me a piece of wisdom.

Ben Dooper emphasized the role that FHI has fulfilled since its inception in 1956: support good contact between members and their customers.

A great man has passed away.

Paul Petersen,
Director of FHI