Family and friends will gather March 4th to remember Maarten Verburg, and are sharing this remembrance with his community:

Martinus “Maarten” Verburg, 56 years old, of Seattle, passed away on February 13, 2023 following a nearly year-long battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Born in Santpoort, Netherlands to Martinus and Henrica Verburg, Maarten is survived by his wife Marcy Mabry, son Yoeri Verburg (Hoofddoorp, Netherlands), bonus children Jessica and Jakob Rugland & bonus mom Jeanie Larson (Seattle), sister Annette Verburg (San Juan Capistrano, CA), brothers Kees (Sen) Verburg (Hechtel-Eksel, Belgium) & Frans (Mary) Verburg (Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands), nieces and nephews Tom (Olivia), Sebastiaan, Maaike, and Sabine Molloy, Kerenza, Karst, & Kevin Verburg, and Jordan, Kai, & Ciara Verburg, countless good friends from his travels around the world, and the WS Naz church community who welcomed him with open arms and love. A Launch Mission Manager at ISISpace, Maarten dearly loved his colleagues and never lost that childlike joy of getting to launch satellites on rockets.

Maarten loved all things where he could use his imagination: playing piano, saxophone, & bass guitar, photography (he had all the patience to wait for just the right shot), drawing, painting, cooking, songwriting, and poetry. From backpacking, hiking, skiing, biking, kayaking, running, ice skating, swimming, Maarten loved anything active outdoors. He loved working with his hands, from construction, to landscaping, to getting on the floor and playing Legos. His love of travel and animals began as a child, when he spent a few years in South Africa. Making friends around the world taught Maarten that we all have more in common than not.

Maarten was such an extrovert but also very humble. He’d be the first to admit that he was imperfect and didn’t have all the answers, and he did not suffer fools gladly. But Maarten did have two guiding principles: Never Give Up On Anyone, and Do Good & Don’t Look Back.

A funeral service will be held in his honor at 10:00 am PST on March 4 at West Seattle Church of the Nazarene. Reception following at the church and at our home next door. Maarten appreciated a good whisky – we’ll raise a glass in his honor.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made for the completion of Maarten Park, a park for gathering the community adjacent to WS Church of the Nazarene and our home: gofund.me/f54126ac

Deepest thanks to Maarten’s care team at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and UW Medical Center, including Dr. Ryan Cassaday, Heather, Christen, Lindsay, Jonelle, Kayelin & Ruth (UW 8SA), and countless nurses and staff who supported Maarten with kindness, caring, tenacity, and for allowing Maarten’s humor to shine through amidst the fight. That Maarten was only in hospice care for 4 days is but one testament to their honoring him.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)