A family of four who’d in recent years swapped their life in Chicago for the father’s native Australia are among the more than a dozen victims of the New Zealand volcano eruption.
Knox Grammar School
“We are together with our family grieving the loss of our loved ones,” the statement read. “Our amazing daughter, Barbara Hollander and our son-in-law, Martin Hollander, were a wonderful couple and parents to our grandsons. We appreciate all the support.”
The grieving parents also said they were planning a celebration of life in the Chicago area for the family this coming summer or fall.
The letter said Matthew was involved in Australian Army Cadets, and was also a mentor representative and a member of the school’s basketball, squash and debate teams.
Barbara and Martin Hollander.Courtesy Knox Grammar School
“Matthew had a close circle of friends and was popular amongst his peers,” the letter read. “He was always enthusiastic about life and was actively involved in school and year group activities.”
Ben, meanwhile, was also a member of the Cadets, and loved baseball and the outdoors. He also had an interest in software design.
“Ben’s engaging smile and quirky sense of humor made him a good mate to his close group of friends and a welcome member to every classroom,” the letter read.
Though Matthew and Ben were born in the Chicago area, the Hollander family had left the U.S. six years ago to live in Martin’s native Australia.
“When [the news] came that they were the ones that were missing it was pretty much unbelievable. They were a wonderful family, always helpful,” Craig Carlson, the family’s former neighbor in Northbrook, Illinois, told WLS.
Added Carol Carlson, “To see a young family like that so vibrant, and, I guess the blessing is they all went together because I understand the people that survived were severely burned.”
Martin Hollander worked as an investment director at Wipunen Incrementum Capital in Sydney, according to hisLinkedInprofile. His page also lists him as a 1989 graduate of the same grammar school his sons attended.
New Zealand volcano.AUCKLAND RESCUE HELICOPTER TRUST/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The Hollanders are among 14 victims killed when a volcano on White Island erupted just after 2 p.m. on Monday. Two bodies still remain unaccounted for, though New Zealand Policesaid Fridaythat one of those two missing bodies is in the water, and divers are currently making attempts to recover it.
At least 28 patients are still being treated in six hospitals across New Zealand, and 23 are in critical condition, officials said.
Forty-seven people were visiting the island when the volcano erupted, and more than three dozen were traveling on Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.
A State Department official confirmed to PEOPLE that U.S. citizens were among those injured and missing following the incident, but that identification of victims was still ongoing.
The U.S. Embassy in New Zealand said in a statement it was aware “of U.S. citizen casualties,” though a number remains unclear. There were nine U.S. citizens on the island when the volcano erupted.
Police have yet to issue an official list identifying those who died in the eruption, though family members have since come forward to claim their loved ones as victims.
Afamily spokesperson confirmedAustralian mother Julie Richards, 47, and her 20-year-old daughter Jessica had died, whilenews.com.aureported that three members of the same Australian family — Anthony and Kristine Langford and their 17-year-old daughter Winona — also perished.
source: people.com
